Community Highlights: Meet Patrick Kenger of Pivot Image Consulting

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Kenger.

Hi Patrick, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. 
When I was younger, in my early teens, it so happened that I had to bounce around schools a lot. This doesn’t lend itself to making friends quickly. As soon as I got comfortable with a group of people, I’d be off to a new school. So, I needed to quickly solve the problem of making friends when going to a new school.

It dawned on me that certain groups of people dressed a certain way, and if I wanted to be a part of those groups, clothing could help me do that. When you don’t know anyone, dressing well was a form of standing out favorably – Raising a flag about the type of people I wanted to attract – better friends and, honestly, girls. So, it didn’t come about as a “passion” initially but as a solution to my social problem.

I also realized it was the most accessible lever to pull to gain more social status or self-confidence. Getting into great shape takes years of exercise and the proper diet. Growing your income and wealth takes persistent savings and education. But putting on a shirt? That takes only a second. Then, in college, after getting great results, I became much more enthusiastic about clothing after seeing how it could enhance your life. Around this time, I started writing about style and creating some menswear content.

Around this time, my buddies in college started asking for help with their clothing. If you’re old enough to remember, this was when people referred to caring about the way you looked as “gay” or “metrosexual.” I could never understand how looking good and taking care of your appearance had anything to do with your sexuality. I also want my car, yard, and dog to be taken care of; why wouldn’t I want the same for my appearance?

So sheepishly, my friends would come up and ask, “Where did you get that?” “What shirt do you think I should wear tonight?” or even “Hey, would you run to the mall with me this weekend?”. Those guys, like myself, wanted the result to look good, but they didn’t feel confident about execution. I found a lot of joy and fulfillment in helping them look and feel great.

As time passed, I learned that style was more of a science than anything and that that science could be broken down and taught to other guys. I started thinking about what this would be like as a business. I wanted to help guys navigate this frustrating and confusing area. I wanted to bring clarity and education to a place where; ordinarily, we’re never taught as men (did your dad ever teach you to dress well? Mine didn’t). Answering the age-old question, “What the hell looks good on me?”

So I got started doing just that in college by freelance styling, kept writing content, worked under the big-name stylists at the time, gained certifications, and consumed every style resource under the sun (I’m sure I was the only 18-year-old in history to have had subscriptions to GQ, Details, and Men’s Health congruently). From that, PIVOT was born.

Now, a decade later, I’ve helped nearly a thousand men 1-on-1, thousands more through education programs and training, and more than a million people have seen my work. And I’ve got to work with some great guys along the way – plenty of names you’d know and plenty of names you wouldn’t – helping every guy who wants it, improve their appearance as efficiently as possible, educating them on what works best for them and why, and developing their wardrobes so they can feel confident in the way they look.

Now and into the future, aside from working with men and personal and celebrity styling, I’m doing more consulting with menswear brands and subscription box companies to help their retention. Also, we’re now training other select stylists on the PIVOT methodology, but will make those career training much more mainstream in the future. We’re also looking to develop more educational content for men, trying to help and impact even more guys at a deeper level rather than the fluff you regularly see on social media.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Lots of struggles. First, figuring out how to build a business. I had the style knowledge but didn’t know much about how to market that. Or even how to start helping other people with that.

Along the way, you just start figuring it out. If you set a goal, typically, God and the universe seem to help you along the way as you push through. Most success is trial and error, as basic as it sounds. Just starting and figuring it all out as you go is what most people do. If you start when you’re ready, you’ll never start.

We’ve been impressed with Pivot Image Consulting, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Pivot Image Consulting is a men’s personal stylist service that works 1-on-1 with guys to improve their wardrobe and update your style. We work with men online and in-person around the country to help educate them on what looks best on them, clean up their existing wardrobe, and add stylish clothing that fits perfectly.

Pivot has been around for almost a decade, and in that time, we’ve only worked with men, which has allowed us to be top of the field and deliver incredible results for the clients we work with. Further, the service is holistic, meaning we don’t just get guys a couple of cool outfits. Instead, we redo their entire wardrobe so that their style is sustainable for the long haul.

Any big plans?
The goal is to continue to refine our process to bring even better results to men and do it quicker. We’re also looking to add more educational elements, such as an online course; that way, even if a guy can’t quite afford our services, we can still help bring them results.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pivotimage.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pivotimageconsulting
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pivot-image-consulting-scottsdale