10/12/2026
I gave a room of 180 successful real estate agents a mirror with two words on it:
BE ICONIC.
But something happened that I haven’t stopped thinking about.
Instead of recognizing the accomplished women looking back at them, many immediately began pointing out the things they wanted to change.
And I wondered…
How often do we look in the mirror and see everything that’s wrong before we recognize everything that’s right?
As an image advisor and coach, I hear women say things like:
“I’m too old for that.”
“My arms are terrible.”
“Nothing looks good on my body anymore.”
They say these things as though they’re established facts.
But are they?
We’ve been getting dressed for decades.
And somewhere along the way, many of us have collected beliefs about what we can wear, how we should look, and who we’re allowed to be.
We rarely stop to question them.
Yet those beliefs influence far more than our wardrobes.
Here’s the question I want you to consider:
What if the thing holding you back isn’t what you see in the mirror, but what you’ve decided it means about you?
I wrote about this experience in my latest letter:
Do You See an ICON in the Mirror?
It’s a conversation I believe more women need to be having, especially in midlife.
Read the letter here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aftonporter/p/do-you-see-an-icon-in-the-mirror