At Brilliant Read Media, it is our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this, we invited Heena Yadav for an interview with Brilliant Read Media. To say it further, Heena is an Image Consultant, Style Curator and Founder at Heena Image Consultant. Let’s learn more about her background, inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Heena:
You describe yourself as “Born to Decency, Forced to Slay.” What does that philosophy mean to you, and how has it shaped the way you transform your clients?
“Born to decency, forced to slay” is, in many ways, the story of my life.
I was born into a very simple, middle-class family and was brought up by my Tauji, whom I lovingly call Papa. He gave me the values that became the foundation of who I am today. Through stories from the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, and real-life situations, he taught me kindness, humility, dignity, how to conduct myself with people, and how to remain composed even when life puts you in difficult situations.
The message was simple: you may not be born with a silver spoon, but you can always build a personality, character and purpose that add value to the people around you.
Life, however, had a very different plan for me.
My real journey as an image consultant began when I became a mother. My circumstances became extremely difficult, and by then, my father was no longer around to guide me. I had only his memories, teachings and principles to hold on to.
I remember wondering: Would these principles that shaped me actually have a place in the real world when the person who taught them to me was no longer there?
Then came my first client.
He saw my circumstances, but he believed in my competence. More importantly, when I worked with him, he valued the principles I had inherited from my father. The transformation I created for him made me realise something profound: perhaps I simply hadn’t met the right people who understood and valued what I stood for.
That experience taught me to stop looking for just clients and start looking for the right clients.
I started working with my daughter in my arms literally carrying my laptop in one hand and my child and her belongings in the other. I will always be grateful to my first client because his trust gave me the confidence to continue.
It took me almost five to six years to move from survival mode to stability and create a secure life for my daughter. During those years, life taught me about resilience, self-worth, rebuilding and, most importantly, learning to love and believe in myself again.
And somewhere along that journey, I transformed too.
The woman who was once simply trying to survive gradually became someone who dressed for herself, embraced her personality, built her presence, created her own identity and confidently stood in her power.
Today, my work brings together three things that are deeply personal to me: the values my father gave me, the depth of styling and image consulting, and my understanding of psychology.
I don’t simply teach people how to dress better. I help them understand how they present themselves, how they are perceived, and how their external image can align with the person they truly want to become.
That’s why the phrase feels so personal.
The decency comes from the values I was raised with.
The slay comes from everything life forced me to become stronger, more confident, more visible and unapologetically myself.
And that’s exactly how I approach my clients.
I don’t believe in changing who someone is. I believe in bringing out the strongest, most confident and authentic version of who they already are.
You work at the intersection of image and psychology. How deeply are the way we dress, the way we behave and the way we see ourselves connected?
They are deeply connected.
When I was learning image consulting, one concept that stayed with me was the appearance cycle: the relationship between how we see ourselves, how we present ourselves, how we behave and ultimately how people respond to us.
It begins with our internal self.
As we grow, particularly during adolescence when we become increasingly aware of our appearance, the reactions we receive from people around us leave an impression. Psychology refers to these as strokes, some positive and some negative.
Comments, comparisons, appreciation, criticism and experiences gradually influence our body image and eventually our self-image.
Then something fascinating happens.
The way you see yourself influences the way you groom and dress yourself. The way you groom and dress yourself influences how you behave. The way you behave influences how people respond to you, and their response can reinforce the way you see yourself.
It becomes a cycle.
If you see yourself as capable, attractive, accomplished and worthy, you’re likely to carry yourself differently. You make different choices. You communicate differently.
On the other hand, if your internal dialogue constantly questions you, that can also show up in your appearance, body language and behaviour.
That’s why I don’t believe confidence is something you can simply buy through expensive clothes or communication skills.
Confidence begins with how you relate to yourself.
For me, confidence isn’t about believing that you’re perfect. It’s about accepting yourself in both your strongest and weakest moments.
And this is where my work becomes different.
I separate two identities:
Who you are today and who you want to become.
There is often a gap between those two.
That gap is who you are in the making.
That’s where I work.
I look beyond what someone is wearing. I try to understand who they are, what they’re doing today, how they’re presenting themselves and who they genuinely want to become.
Sometimes we’ve repeated certain behaviours for so long that they’ve become habits. Eventually, we start saying, “This is just how I am” or “Chalta hai.”
My role is to challenge that.
We make small, gradual improvements. We break patterns, create new habits, and consciously work on dressing, grooming, body language, communication, presence and self-perception.
Ultimately, my work isn’t about creating a completely different person.
It’s about helping the person you are becoming become visible.
Many successful professionals believe, “My work should speak for itself.” Why is professional image still such a powerful part of success and leadership today?
Absolutely, I believe your work should speak for itself. My own life is built on that belief.
But I also believe that attention is the new currency.
Over the last 10–15 years, the professional world has changed dramatically. People are more informed, ambitious, capable and competitive. In almost every industry, there are clusters of equally talented people.
So the question isn’t only, “How good is my work?”
It’s also:
“How will people notice me, remember me and continue to recognise my value?”
One remarkable achievement can get you attention. But what happens tomorrow when someone else does something remarkable?
The same thing happens in professional life.
Your work can earn you recognition. But if you want to become someone people consistently remember, respect and look up to, you need a presence that sustains that recognition.
And that doesn’t mean chasing attention.
It means creating a consistent combination of your work, your presence, your behaviour and your communication.
Before you get an opportunity to speak, people see you.
Your appearance, grooming, clothing, colours, body language and overall presentation communicate something.
Your appearance should create the right opening statement:
“Yes, this person belongs in this space.”
Then you get the opportunity to speak.
And once you speak, your communication matters. Then comes your behaviour, etiquette, social intelligence and the way you make people feel.
I never tell my clients that image is more important than competence.
Competence is the foundation. Image is how that competence becomes visible and recognisable.
I often tell my clients:
“You don’t dress to prove that you are successful; you dress to communicate the level at which you operate.”
Leadership, for me, is ultimately about congruence when what you know, what you believe, who you are and how you present yourself are all telling the same story.
So yes, let your work speak for itself.
But don’t let your work be the only thing people have to discover.
Can changing someone’s external image actually change their internal confidence, mindset and performance or does true transformation have to begin from within?
True transformation has to begin from within.
External change can become a trigger or a doorway, but it cannot create lasting transformation unless the person genuinely wants it and is ready to work for it.
Most people naturally want to feel good about themselves. They want to look attractive, feel confident, be respected and have influence.
What is uncommon is having the courage to consciously work towards becoming that version of yourself.
That’s where psychology becomes important.
Sometimes someone has lived with a particular perception of themselves for so long that they stop questioning it. They start believing, “This is just how I am,” even when that version no longer represents who they want to become.
So when I work with someone, the first step isn’t changing their clothes.
It’s creating awareness and willingness.
I want them to ask:
What do I want to change?
Why do I want to change it?
Am I genuinely ready to do the work?
Once that readiness exists, external transformation can be incredibly powerful.
Sometimes the right outfit, grooming or styling gives someone their first glimpse of a version of themselves they had only imagined.
They look in the mirror and think:
“This feels like me.”
That moment can create a shift.
But external transformation is only the beginning.
You can transform someone’s appearance, and they may feel fantastic for 10 or 15 days. But if their mindset, behaviour and habits don’t change, the effect can disappear.
Lasting transformation requires self-work, consistency and new patterns.
If you want to become more confident, you have to practise showing up confidently. If you want to communicate differently, you have to practise. If you want to carry yourself differently, you have to repeat those behaviours until they become natural.
As a consultant, I can provide knowledge, tools, direction and perspective.
But I cannot want the transformation on someone’s behalf.
External change can give you the first spark. Internal commitment keeps that spark alive.
A makeover can change how you feel for a moment.
Transformation changes how you show up consistently.
What are some of the most common image and executive-presence mistakes you see among businessmen and senior professionals?
Honestly, I don’t look at my clients through the lens of their mistakes.
I look at them through the lens of their next level.
Most businessmen and senior professionals I work with have already achieved something significant. They’ve built businesses, created employment, supported families and worked relentlessly to reach where they are.
Their competence isn’t in question.
What I often see is that they don’t realise how important they themselves have become.
They’re so focused on building, managing, delivering and growing that they sometimes forget that they are also part of the success story they’ve created.
Sometimes they feel the need to establish their importance through external symbols: their business, net worth, car, designation or introduction.
But I ask them:
“If all those symbols were taken away, would your presence still communicate who you are?”
Can you walk into a room and create credibility without having to explain your achievements first?
That’s where executive presence becomes powerful.
Your appearance, body language, grooming, communication and demeanour can create an immediate sense of credibility before you’ve even spoken about your achievements.
They don’t replace your accomplishments.
They allow your accomplishments to be felt through your presence.
I also don’t believe in turning someone into a copy of a famous personality or imposing a stereotypical idea of what a powerful businessman should look like.
I want to make their originality visible.
I call it bringing out their OG effect: the original version of themselves, elevated and expressed with intention.
Every person who becomes an inspiration has a recognisable presence.
So, for me, executive presence isn’t about pretending to be powerful.
It’s about making the power you have already earned visible.
In the era of LinkedIn, Instagram and personal branding, how can professionals build a powerful image without losing authenticity or looking overly curated?
I believe personal branding has actually made it easier than ever to be intentional about how you are perceived.
Platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram have given professionals their own spaces to communicate who they are, what they do and what they want to be known for.
And each platform has its own language.
LinkedIn can showcase expertise, achievements and leadership. Instagram can showcase personality, visual identity, lifestyle, creativity and the human side of your brand.
You don’t have to show everything about yourself on either platform.
In fact, authenticity does not mean revealing everything.
Authenticity means being truthful about what you choose to reveal.
You can consciously decide what you want to showcase, what you want to keep private and what you want people to associate with your name.
That’s not being fake.
That’s being intentional.
The important questions are:
What do I want to project?
How do I want to be perceived?
What do I want to be known for?
Once you have clarity, you can intentionally place different pieces of yourself across different platforms while remaining authentic to your core identity.
Consistency is extremely important.
If your visual identity, communication and content consistently reflect the same professional personality, people begin recognising you without even having to read your name.
But I don’t believe professionals should become so curated that they look manufactured.
The goal isn’t to create a perfect version of yourself.
The goal is to create a recognisable version of your real self.
Your image should reflect your personality, profession, aspirations and individuality.
Personal branding gives you the opportunity to choose your narrative.
You don’t have to reveal your entire life to prove that you’re authentic.
You simply have to be intentional about the parts of yourself you choose to make visible.
When authenticity meets consistency, your image stops being just a photograph or social-media post.
It becomes your visual identity.
After witnessing real transformations through your work, what have you learned about the deeper connection between how we present ourselves and who we believe we are?
I’ve learned that how we present ourselves and how we believe we are can sometimes be surprisingly different.
Many people don’t actually present the person they believe they are.
Instead, they present the person they think their family, circumstances, society or people around them expect them to be.
Sometimes we even copy personalities we admire because we haven’t found the courage to express our own.
But underneath all of that, I believe every person carries a very private story about themselves.
Somewhere inside, they believe:
“I am special. I am capable. I am unique. I can do more.”
Self-doubt exists, of course. Everyone experiences it.
But in many people, that self-doubt is actually smaller than their self-belief.
The problem is that they don’t always have the courage to make their external life reflect what they internally believe about themselves.
So they create a safer, simpler version of themselves.
They think:
“This is how I should dress.”
“This is how someone from my family should look.”
“This is what people around me will be comfortable with.”
And gradually, compromise becomes normal.
What I’ve witnessed through my clients is that people eventually become ready to break that compromise.
They begin asking:
“If I truly believe in myself, why shouldn’t I present myself that way?”
That decision requires courage.
Because becoming visible isn’t always comfortable.
When you start standing out, people notice you. Some admire you. Some get inspired by you. Some may imitate you. And occasionally, some may try to pull you down.
Being seen is one thing. Being able to carry being seen is another.
And I think that’s one of the deepest transformations I witness.
My clients aren’t simply changing their clothes or appearance. They’re breaking the internal compromise between:
“I know who I am”
and
“I’m afraid to let people see who I am.”
They begin allowing their external presence to catch up with their internal belief.
Eventually, the question is no longer:
“Will people accept this version of me?”
It becomes:
“This is who I believe I am. Can I now have the courage to carry that belief into the world?”
And that’s, for me, the deepest connection between identity and image.
The most meaningful transformation happens when the person you believe you are inside finally becomes visible on the outside.