Nurse turned s Bernard shares he
After more than five years of living a conventional life, Phylicia Bernard left her nursing profession to follow her dreams full time as a personal stylist and has been enjoying doing that for three years now.
Phylicia, a Guyanese by birth, left these shores for the US at the age of 11 and continued her education at Clara Barton High School as well as Kingsborough Community College where she first pursued studies in nursing. “As an immigrant, having a secure job was the safest place to be according to my family. They simply wanted the best for their children and didn’t see unconventional routes as an option. So, when we realized my high school had a nursing programme, it was automatically something I had to pursue,” she told The Scene.
The stylist describes her time in nursing as boring; she was unmotivated and uninspired, and every day would find her constantly waiting for it to end. She noted that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a nurse, but it’s a job that one must love doing and take seriously as with any career.
As a child, she was somewhat shy but always loved fashion and found she could use it to make a breakthrough in connecting and getting conversations going. Phylicia said migrating exposed her to more clothing options and personal styles and by 12 or 13 years old, she found herself gravitating toward fashion indulging more in the creative aspect of it.
While she was a nurse Phylicia did personal styling part time creating a customer base before taking the plunge of quitting her job. “I always had a love for all things fashion related, but it wasn’t until read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, [that I was] motivated and completely inspired to start my own business,” she said. “I always knew fashion was my passion but never thought I could actually make a career out of it let alone a business… so I took the book as a sign that there was more out there for me and that I can follow my dreams. Although I was ridiculously afraid of stepping into the unknown, and afraid of what my family would think, I quit nursing and began this journey full time.”
When Phylicia announced to her family that she was leaving her well-paid job and at a time when she was on her way to becoming a nurse practitioner they thought she had lost her mind. To them, not only was she going crazy, but she was rebelling against what her family stood for when it came to job security. One at a time and also together, they tried talking her out of it but Kiyosaki’s book was all Phylicia needed to take the bull by its horns, and she did. She founded her business, which is called Style