Everyone please welcome my long-time friend, hairstylist, style coach, and overall style icon Geena Mericle to A Broadway Body: Continued Conversations! Geena is one of the most authentic and beautiful humans I have ever met in my lifetime, and she’s a true rainbow in human form. Not only is she one of my dear friends, but she’s also an expert personal stylist who’s had a direct impact on my personal style and how I express myself in the world. (She once told me I shouldn’t wear black because black clothing does not reflect my personality - I took her wisdom to heart, and I wear a whole heck of a lot more color now.)
In our conversation, Geena speaks about feeling stifled in clothes that didn’t properly represent who she is on the inside, her core top value of expression, and how discovering your personal style can change how you show up in the world. I cannot wait for you to hear our conversation. Geena’s lens on clothes and self-expression is one I hold in high regard, and her views on supporting older women in expressing their true inner selves is one the world needs more of. Enjoy my continued conversation with the lovely Geena Mericle!
“ Those moments, I've never taken it for granted getting to be in those intimate spaces with my clients and really understanding how they view themselves. And I can't do a lot, but I try in a two-hour session to at least turn the boat around a little bit to get them to start seeing and connecting with themselves again.“
- Geena Mericle
Megan Gill: I feel like through our conversations about the work that you do, as far as, I call it helping people discover their personal style, I know we've had a couple conversations where you've been like, “Meg, shouldn't be wearing black. Don't ever wear black. Your personality does not match with black clothing. It's not the same vibe,” and honestly, I've really taken that with me. And I was very resistant to it at first, and now here I am in my mauve. I’ve found what works for me.
Geena Mericle: Yes.
Megan Gill: There’s something to this work that you do, so I'd love if you could share a little bit about it and how you've grown since maybe we've even last spoken about it.
Geena Mericle: Yeah. Yeah, so I help women discover their authentic style, and I like to think of it as it's their self-expression. It's their inner self that's coming out on the outer surface for people to see and experience who that person is on an individual level. And it started with my own journey into this and working in an environment where I'm a hairstylist. And so, I worked in a salon where we wore all black and it was just a very fashion forward, edgy way of being in the beauty industry. And so, I didn't really question it, and I did it for years, and it was seen as professional. And so, that's where I was when I discovered this other thing of like, “Oh, well, if I actually dress to who I am and let that self-expression show, that resonates and that ripples out to other people,” instead of hiding and instead living to these old standards of beauty and rules that have just been created for over many years.
The shift for me happened in 2016. Just being able to step back and really critically think about it, I've always been someone that has been interested in taking some sort of personality test and like, “Oh, like, I wonder what I am!” And just from a psychology standpoint just understanding myself a little bit better. I always had a desire to understand like other people too.
And so, I was already doing things like that just in my personal life. And so, then when this frame of, “Oh, well, how you express yourself is also an extension of who you are,” that hit hard because I was like, “Oh, I've been totally –,” not ignoring it. I obviously was working in the world of beauty, but I didn't understand the power behind it until walking it out, understanding it for myself, and then turning around and teaching other people and helping other people. But that journey definitely started with me for myself first.
And just over the years, probably since I've seen you, I've definitely grown into really honing in, not just what the framework is for, because I think it's for everybody to look at and understand. But I specifically am really passionate about aging and beauty, and over my life and my career, I have experienced clients and mentors of mine that have all, you know, said these things to me about how they view their own age and how they view themselves. And that has always been a part of me. But in the business I'm in today, that is who I'm running after is older women and showing them that they have a place in this conversation of beauty and they're not invisible. They deserve to feel fully expressed and authentic to who they are just as much as someone that's 21 and doing that naturally. I think each generation has their version of what that self-expression looks like. But if we follow the aging process, at some point, it’s been taught to you that once you reach a certain age, you're invisible, the world no longer sees you, and you kind of just need to give up, and I am here to dismantle those beliefs and help women really see their beauty again.
Megan Gill: Ugh, I love that. We are not subscribing to that. I'm right there with you. As an actor and someone who is using my body to tell stories, I am very passionate as well about older women being able to show up as themselves and not feeling like, as an older actor, they need to get the Botox, and they need to fix themselves because that's not a proper representation of our actual world. So I'm right there with you, and I think that's really powerful work, and really impactful, and I'm just so glad that you're doing what you're doing.
As I'm sitting here listening to you, I keep coming back to this piece of, well, if we are properly representing ourselves, our true authentic selves, who we are on the inside, outwardly, isn't that where our confidence really thrives and isn't that where we can truly be our best selves in the world because we're not hiding and because we're not feeling insecure and in maybe clothes that we don't relate with or clothes that – I know when I was wearing a lot of black, I was living in Chicago at the time, kind of like right before you told me all this. And I kind of had this, not bad bitch energy about me, but I was kind of closed off to others, and it was from a place of insecurity and from a place of, “Don't see me because I'm scared. I'm scared for you to see me. I don't want you to see me.”
And so, I think that even in your simple comments to someone like me about exploring different color palettes even in the clothing that I'm wearing has really helped me shine, helped who I am as a person shine on the outside, and It's very fun because – and not to make this about me. But just as an example, I have just been hearing a lot more feedback from people around me lately about how vibrant I am and how much they love my laugh and all of these things that I really have to truly attest some of this feedback that I'm getting and some of how I'm showing up in the world today to something as simple as opening my eyes to see a different way of presenting myself to the world.
And I really just thank you for, however many years ago, that was (five, six, seven years ago) for even just sitting down with me and opening my brain up to some of these concepts and to the work that you do, and I just think it's so important. And yeah, I just also wanted to share that about me because it's really cool and it feels really good to finally feel that confidence and even just in a place of I'm putting myself out there more which is scary. It's scary to put yourself out there and be vulnerable in any setting. And granted, I am 32 years old, so I can imagine if you're 52 years old or 62 years old, that it only compounds and gets more and more maybe daunting to kind of put yourself out there in a world where you maybe feel like you can't keep up as much.
Geena Mericle: Again, to give people an insight of our relationship, we did meet in college, and I went and visited you in 2019. I came out to LA, so that's what we're talking about when I had this conversation with you.
Megan Gill: I remember I came to Ladybird, which you are still working with them today, which is very cool, in kind of a different capacity.
Geena Mericle: Yes!
Megan Gill: But I remember I came and you did my hair, and that's the first time that you kind of told me about all of this. And I think that was 2018, right before you came out here.
Geena Mericle: You’re so right! You're right, because I probably would have told you then about my own transformation, all that. Then I remember coming out in 2019 to visit you, and we'd had these conversations around your image. You were working in a fitness environment at the time, and I know you were just kind of struggling in that as well. And we’d had so many just in-depth, personal conversations through that week. I literally came home, got off the plane, and there was a double rainbow happening. I'm not kidding you. I got home. I have pictures of it on my phone. I don't even know if I ever shared that with you.
Megan Gill: You probably did.
Geena Mericle: But I I just remember I saw those rainbows, and it was a pivotal moment both of us, but I just knew that something amazing was coming out of that weekend together.
Megan Gill: Oh, my gosh. Me too. I think about it often, and obviously how much I miss you and just wish that we were closer proximity wise, in general. But yeah, it was really impactful. And I even remember we went to Malibu one day, and you inspired me to wear like these bright red pants with a white and red top and a red bow, which is funny because I wore that shirt on Valentine's day. It says “girls run thangs.”
Geena Mericle: Yes.
Megan Gill: I’m very single at the moment, so I was like, “Yes, it's red. Galentine's Day, let's go.” So I still have it, and that’s so much more of how I'm dressing in my daily life too, which is just so wonderful. And it's almost like I've known that you've had this impact on me, but I don't know that I've even got to express it to you in these ways. This also feels special to be able to kind of recall and realize like, yeah, that weekend was really, really pivotal for both of us, for sure.
Geena Mericle: Yeah, and I think, switching back to the conversation of you wearing all black, and you were kind of projecting this image of, “Don’t mess with me Don’t look at me. I’m a badass bitch,” or whatever you said. It’s like that, I think you have to go through that journey of self-discovery too, right? You could look at a kid who is naturally expressing themselves and they're at a young age, and it would be so beautiful for them to grow up always expressing themselves and always knowing their truth and being authentic to who they are. But I think you also have to go through those stages where you're very distant from your authenticity, you're very distant from how you actually want to live and feel those seasons of anxiety, those seasons of depression. Those also teach you a lens that, when you do have it, you can see it, you can feel it. It is this internal feeling that your body can physically feel you’re showing up differently. You are attracting different people to you. These are all signals that you’re walking out into who you authentically are. This like resonant signal is being put out into the world, and it's returning back to you.
I think where I'm at today, those hard seasons make me see when I am connected, it is something I've always dreamed of or something, you know, I've always – and it's not for other people. It's for me. It's for me to internally feel that way. And I think that with clothing and our bodies, you want to talk about body issues. People think being a personal stylist is probably such a fun job and it's exciting, you get to play dress up all day long. Okay, you're working with women in an intimate environment, and a majority of the time it's about their body and them feeling good in their clothing, and I could say, more times than not, it's about that. And Just being around that, being in those rooms with people has helped me just have that level of empathy.
I have always been a plus-size person, and a majority of the time, I wouldn't say it ever really got to me in a crippling way. But just seeing people of any size experience the same thing, that's when it's like, okay, this isn't just a conversation around, “You're above this size. You must feel this way.” No, it could be someone that's a double zero still feeling that same exact way. And being in a dressing room with a woman, there's nothing more intimate and vulnerable than that space. And I even saw that for myself.
I have a sister, and my mom was a single mom. And me and my sister were raised together. And I remember, oh my god, swimsuit shopping. It was always going to end in tears. It was always going to end not great. And same thing for prom dress shopping, any type of special occasion. The three of us would be jam-packed into the Sears dressing room trying on things. And, you know, I did grow up in a house where my mom never forced a diet on me, never said I needed to be a certain size and even just did nurture that side of me and didn't make it about my weight, and I really appreciate that. And the three of us, I mean, we change in front of each other. We walked around as it was because we're women growing up together. But dressing rooms specifically, for the three of us, I could put us all three back into a dressing room, trying on certain things, and just, you know, one of us is gonna end up crying. One of us is gonna end up in this desperate place.
And, especially as someone that loves color and I have loved it since I was a kid, prom dress shopping, there were no color dresses for Geena, and I was only a size 14 at the time. I had to settle on wearing a David's Bridal bridesmaids dress that was navy blue.
Megan Gill: Oh my gosh, which is just heartbreaking too. How are there not more options? And granted, it was like 15, 16, 17 years ago, but even still. I know that we still have these issues today with there just not being enough options for that plus-size range, which is just not okay.
Geena Mericle: Yeah, so there's my personal journey. And then, becoming a hairstylist, that is also a very vulnerable place that you're in with – I work with everybody, but a majority women, and that is, again, a very vulnerable place to be. You're often wearing a black cape. Your hair is wet. You know, you don't look your best until after the service. And so, those moments, really, I've never taken it for granted getting to be in those intimate spaces with people, with my clients, and really understanding how they view themselves. And I can't do a lot, but I try, in a two-hour session, to at least turn the boat around a little bit, turn it around to get them to start seeing and connecting with themselves again.
Megan Gill: Mm-hmm.
Geena Mericle: And then layering, you know, now being a style coach and working with clothing, that has only amplified. It's only helped me see that window into self-image, into self-expression. That's the biggest thing that if I was to write down my values, that is definitely in the top three is when you don't express, when you don't listen to the inner voice, and I'm not just talking on like a visual place, when you don't express that, that is where depression creeps in. That is where you start to disconnect from yourself because you are avoiding really bringing that inner self outward in any way, any capacity. Maybe it's with your words, maybe it's with your clothing, maybe it's with how you're showing up at your job. That is all a form of expression. And I think it's our job as individuals to just, even if you can't be your hundred percent every day, it's like, you got to take that little micro step to it. And you wearing black seven years ago, there was no way you would have jumped to like rainbow dressing. There isn't. And I think there is a lot of resistance in that for many reasons, but it's my job to not force you to that place you're not ready for, but just to give you like a little telescope to be like she is there. I can see it, and I can see it off into the distance, and maybe one day I'll be there, but I'm here right now.
And like with anything in your life that you're looking to change, you know, eating habits, your sleep habits, whatever, we know you can't just swing from one to the other. It has to be those small, little habits that build on top of each other, and expressing yourself through your clothing is that.
Sometimes it's a hair barrette that starts or a pair of earrings or a pair of shoes, and maybe that's what you're really known for, and you love to express yourself in those small ways. But then it'll kind of build upon itself into, you know, maybe one day it's a full outfit. But even those small, little things that are just for you, that just show the world a little bit of who you are, that is just as important as having a closet full of clothes that are that perfect wardrobe for you. It's those little things that kind of add up to each other.
Megan Gill: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because it's in those little tweaks that it feels more sustainable. And it's even in the the slow-game journey where it feels that's where sustainability lies. And that's also, I think, just letting your authentic self discover those things at a slower pace is, I think, gonna just lead you to where you're truly supposed to be instead of making these rash decisions like, “Let me throw out all my black clothes and get all new clothes.” No, we don't have to do that. We don't have to do that. Maybe just rack your closet and where's the color, because there's probably some in there somewhere, which is what you and I had done. And it is, wow, yeah, really cool to just even reflect for myself on how that journey went.
I just had chills throughout everything you were just saying, too. Even being in the dressing room and being with women through these extremely vulnerable moments. And I think it's really lovely how you said if you can do one thing with your clients, it's to redirect the boat and get them to see differently because something that I've been noticing in my own self-work with body image is that I now see differently than I did pre-pandemic, I'll just say. Because it was 2020 when my personal body image journey really started to kick in and when I really started to take a look at myself and what exactly I'd been through.
And I know at this point, I'm not working with clients on this level yet, but even in my friendships and in my interactions with women, especially in the modeling world and in the acting world, it is just kind of like how you said, it's those really vulnerable moments. These are two really vulnerable professions where your body and your self-image is so baked into it that I feel very similarly as you, just on a personal level. If I can like say one thing to my co-model on this job, if she starts like going there, you know, down the rabbit hole of the spiral about self-image and body and eating and exercise or whatever it may be, if I can just say one thing to help them see a little bit clearer and be like, “It doesn't have to be like that,” coming from the place of, “I was there. I was in your shoes. But it can be different.” And I understand that it's a slow-game journey because of that. And because, for me, it's now taken five years to really gain a lot of clarity around this body stuff for me and around what I went through.
So I just think it's really, really lovely and important to hear that you are so aware of these things and understanding that you're in vulnerable settings with your clients, and I'm just so glad that you are doing this work and that the people you're working with have you and that you're so gentle about it. It's just really cool and wonderful.
I'm wondering your journey from when you were working in the salon and kind of dressing to this standard of professional in the beauty industry, which is also funny, to kind of pulling yourself out of that and allowing yourself to express the fact that you love color and you love all of these fun clothes. I'm just curious how your relationship to your own body, if it shifted at all, how it kind of shifted throughout that specific process.
Geena Mericle: Mm, absolutely. Yeah. I think what's so interesting is, again, I’ve been plus size pretty much my whole life, athletically built. And I remember as a hairstylist, prior to the work I do now, I would do a lot of fashion events just as what you're talking about, so working with models. Whether it's a photoshoot, whether it's backstage at a runway show, and that was pretty present in how I got to collaborate with other artists and get that creativity outside of the salon. I would just always be so excited, and then I would find myself like in the staging area getting ready, and that is really the only time I would start to compare my body to other people's. And I don't know if it was like picking up on them and what they were saying, what their conversations were having, were happening, or it was just watching them, you know, a designer tweak everything and measure and everything is focused, of course, on their body. And so, it’s like there’s this whole energy that happens in that backstage. And I can remember in those moments feeling pretty low about my own self-esteem. And again, we had to wear black T-shirts that said the salon name on it. I don’t love T-shirts anyways. So it never was like, “yeah, I’m so excited to wear this.” But those were the moments where I would walk away and I would just be like, “Ugh. Oh, I’ve just got to focus on like what I did creatively and not think about all that other stuff.”
And when I transitioned to working with, you know, my business partners that were in the personal styling field, I thought at first that type of thing would follow me, like I would still do photo shoots and runway shows and be able to express outwardly in that way. And I did it for probably about a year, but I kept feeling the same ways. And I was working with two women who, on the surface, someone might say, “Oh, well they're in the fashion world.” But again, I was a part of these conversations and in these dressing rooms with real women who were hiring us for this service, and I was like, “Okay, we're not here because of fashion. We're not here because this is what's trendy.” We were kind of showing up as the anti to all those things.
And I think being around them was the thing that just really opened my eyes to fully stepping away from that sphere and honing in on what it is that we were doing. And it did relate to how I was viewing myself. It was like creativity was fully unleashed in my clothes. I look back at photos from, you know, those beginning years, and I'm like, “Oh, my God, what was I doing?” But you’ve got to also look at it and be like, “I was freely, freely creating, freely expressing.” I was working with people that were not putting restraints on me in those ways as long as, you know, I looked put together to some degree, it was fine. They didn't care in that sense.
And so, I think being around that environment just helped me shed all of that feeling that I needed to still be connected to that sphere because I was getting the joy of collaborating out of it for people. But what I was walking away with was low self-image, low self-esteem. So why would I keep putting myself into that position, you know? And I think that that does correlate with how I showed up, you know?
Megan Gill: I just think it's, there's also something to be said about this like standard that you were experiencing at the shows and how you were showing up at the shows and how you felt you had to show up and also how systemically impactful that was to you and I'm sure to many other women and people in general, and I feel like that's also such an issue. And it's so lovely that the work you're doing and the space that Ladybird has created is so anti because I think that's, again, another step towards shifting these spaces over here, where it's like, “Okay, why does it have to be this way? Why does it have to be like that?” Because it's hard to hear that you felt like you were in those darker places or that this space over here led you to that darker mental space about your self-image and your body. And how if you were able to show up more as yourself, maybe you wouldn't have felt those feelings. And isn't that like the ultimate goal, I think, through like the work you are doing, and then also like through my lens of helping people relate better to their bodies. I want to shift those spaces.
So I think also just pointing that out that you were there and you were experiencing it firsthand and then you grew away from that and realized it doesn't have to be like that and are now helping people to, hopefully, also see that it doesn’t have to be like that. Because even just in our culture and society at large, these trends and, my god, the fact that low rise jeans are coming back around. As a fit model who works with a lot of young, hip brands like Wild Table at Target, they are back, baby, and I'm fittin’ ‘em. And I have lowkey PTSD. But it's in this world that makes you think that this is how it is. And like, “Oh yes, this is trendy, so I must.” I think just helping others to have the discernment to realize, “Take what's for you, leave what's not, and just be true to yourself,” is such an important piece of everything that you were saying as well.
Geena Mericle: Well, and I think just to go on that, definitely during that time I discovered high-waisted jeans, and I was like, “Oh my god!” I hated wearing jeans up until that point and was like, “Oh, this is an option?”
Megan Gill: Honestly, same.
Geena Mericle: Because low-rise jeans ruined everything for me.
Megan Gill: Me too. Literally, me too. And same, I remember, I was never mad at my mom, not her fault, but just being like, why didn't someone tell me there was another option? Granted, it was –
Geena Mericle: Well, they were being bullied because of their mom jeans! So we weren't going to listen to them.
Megan Gill: That's so true. That's so real. All I want for the rest of my life are mom jeans.
Geena Mericle: Mm-hmm. That’s what I’m saying! Every generation has their thing, and then it's like that almost gets weaponized against you, and you're like, “But that is true to who that person is,” you know? And I just want to see a world where, generationally, it doesn't matter if you're 50 and you want to cut your hair, or you want to have long hair, or whatever, it's like do it because you want to do it, you know? Stop living for your daughter's approval on your image or your husband's approval on your image. It’s like, “No! What do you want? What do you want for yourself?” That's the work to be done.
And I think that we are turning a corner where women of all of ages are being able to see themselves in this way. I think it is being modeled through Hollywood in these actresses that are, Maybe they haven't even worked in years and they've come back. Pamela Anderson, I just look at her journey and I'm like, “Yes! You have full ownership of how you're showing up, and that is incredible, and that is the story to tell.” Like, mm.
Megan Gill: Amen. Agreed. That is a word if I ever did hear one. And another one for me is Kate Winslet in discussing just her whole journey and even the way she's showing up as an actor now, I think is extremely empowering. And it seems that she hasn't had work done and that she is embracing her naturally aging face and body, and that's what we need on screen. That's what we need more of, because hopefully that then empowers the women you're working with to see, “Hey, that's me, and it's okay for me to rock my wrinkles.” It's okay because it's being portrayed in the media and in Hollywood at these levels.
Geena Mericle: And I think we are gonna get there. We are gonna get there in our generation. And I'm like, if I can help change this narrative ahead of that conversation, I want to be a part of that. And this is a different lane, but studies on women are being done more than they ever have. Perimenopause is being talked about. And again, these are all things that I've not yet participated in. But I'm like, man, I'm so glad that this conversation is happening, so when I do get to that point, there's just going to be a lot more information. There's going to be a lot more we are openly talking about as women.
Megan Gill: Right, and just the education around it too that we haven’t had before, yeah.
Geena Mericle: Yes! So I would say that's my selfish goal is that I'm like talking to my future self and, like, “You're gonna get there, and you better let what you're saying today really sink in when you get there and those wrinkles start to show up and, you know, my gray hairs are already coming in.”
Megan Gill: Mm-hmm. Mine too, girl.
Geena Mericle: So it’s like you’ve gotta walk the walk if you're gonna talk about it.
Megan Gill: I agree. Thank you for bringing that up because I have been checking myself a lot with that as well. I will just say that, as an actor and a model, I've always said it's really important to me to not do work on my face and body as far as Botox and like altering certain things. I'm very grateful that my hair is lighter, so you can't necessarily see my grays. But my hair is natural. I'm trying to embrace the natural curls these days. Like, “Let's do it!”
The one thing is I am currently writing a piece about laser hair removal, but it's for more than just a beauty reason. In certain areas I'm just having skin issues. But so I will point that out and just say that I'm not 100 percent here, but I do think it's really, really important to say, “Hey, I'm not going to get worked on on my face, and I'm going to stick to that,” and I know it might be hard, give myself 10, 15 years, and it might be really effing hard. But it's really important to me, and I agree with you. If I'm going to be in this realm and be preaching kind of a similar thing as you are, as far as, “Embrace your skin and your face and your hair as you age as an actor and a performer,” in this space, then I also need to walk the walk. And I think it's a really good way to hold ourselves accountable to that because I also believe that this is where the impact is. And again, no shade to anyone who wants to do what they want to do. That is totally on you. I think it's also just important to me, and it sounds like to you as well, to just empower women to know that you don't have to. And if you want to do it, but if you don't, don't.
Geena Mericle: That is where I leave it. Because, absolutely, I work with people that get Botox, and I am of the camp that if that truly helps you, please do it. What I don't want anyone to ever feel like they have to do is because someone else is setting a standard for them. I'm someone that – I like purple in my hair. I'm not going to be fully granola crunchy ever probably, you know? So it's like, I'm not saying don't do anything.
Megan Gill: Right.
Geena Mericle: I'm just saying it from a point of don't let someone else set your standard. Don't let someone else put that on you. I mean, I could tell so many stories, and this is bringing it up to mind is I have had clients over the years that, again, they went to a plastic surgeon for something, and then it's often a man, and it's often a man who wants to tell you what else you can fix. And I’ve watched women go in and change these things about themselves because, again, that is being projected onto them from somebody else. And so, they could have gone into it with just a simple request or a simple thing they wanted to do, and then they left with, “I have to do all these other things to feel beautiful.” And that is what we're talking about here.
Megan Gill: Absolutely.
Geena Mericle: It's not the act of going and doing something. It's the act of someone else putting their standard on you.
Megan Gill: Absolutely. And even in the acting world and the performance world, I think a lot of it is sometimes very subconscious. And if I'm an actor pursuing this thing and I'm watching television, and I see all of these actors who are very clearly in their like thirties/forties with no movement in their forehead, it's like, “Well, shit, if I'm going to book TV, I better get Botox because all of these actors on TV –,” I say all very loosely, “-- clearly have it too.”
So, yeah, I think that this messaging can come at us through many different channels, and it can be dangerous. And I fully agree with you just as far as having the discernment to know the difference and to stay aligned with your True North for you, which I think is hard, especially as women who, I mean, just will never quite be at that same level as men are and who always feel like we have to be bettering ourselves and trying our darndest and wanting to just do whatever we can to get there and to be the best, especially when competing against men in certain fields, or whatever it is. Yeah, I think it's really just important to have enough awareness and confidence in yourself to be able to be discerning when making these decisions.
Geena Mericle: Yeah. Yeah.
Megan Gill: Oh, gosh.
Geena Mericle: Like, look at Dolly Parton.
Megan Gill: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, totally.
Geena Mericle: I love her, and she could do no wrong in my eyes.
Megan Gill: Same.
Geena Mericle: And so, I'm just like, I don't think she ever – from documentaries and things I've heard about her, she never did it for other people. She wanted to feel that way.
Megan Gill: Yeah. Which is so fair.
Geena Mericle: So that's what I think the difference is.
Megan Gill: Yeah, absolutely. For sure. And it’s so nuanced. So much about this conversation is extremely nuanced.
Geena Mericle is a style coach and hairstylist dedicated to helping women feel empowered by discovering their authentic personal style. Whether she’s curating a wardrobe that truly reflects who they are or finding the perfect hairstyle to match their vibe, Geena’s goal is to make her clients feel confident and radiant. She believes that when we embrace our own unique beauty and show up as our true, authentic selves, magic happens.
Email: geena@ladybirdstyling.com
Work With Geena at Ladybird: www.ladybirdstyling.com
Get Your Haircut by Geena: www.luminesalon.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/geenamericle
“I want to see a world where, generationally, it doesn't matter if you're 50 and you want to cut your hair, or you want to have long hair, or whatever it is. Do it because you want to do it. Stop living for your daughter's approval on your image or your husband's approval on your image. It's like, “No, what do you want? What do you want for yourself?” And that's the work to be done.“
- Geena Mericle
While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your health providers.
