In my story series on Shoe Therapy© I must tell you about a private client I had.

This is a woman who came to NYC for the weekend with her husband. Money was no object. She was a stay at home mom and frequently wore flats or sneakers – yet she loved and craved high heels.

She was ready for a weekend of fun and that included Shoe Therapy © with me. Her Shoe Therapy questionnaire said she wanted something glamorous, something fun, something stiletto. But when we met up, she told me she wanted more flats. So our driver took us downtown to Hollywould, one of the chicest flat designers I know. In her jewel box of a shop we scooped up multiple pairs of her candy colored ballet flats, super sumptuous and yummy Italian leathers.

I was a bit surprised though – here she was with an unlimited budget, a driver to take us around NYC and yours truly, ready to really take it up a notch – what was up? Why were we buying flats that she could order online from home and have shipped?

I decided I must take things into my own hands and instructed the driver to head to Bergdorf Goodman and headed straight to the second floor. There we found a most divine pair of Dolce and Gabbana stilettos. These were not your ordinary creations, no, these were a special edition for Fall, with satin and ruffles and exquisite embroidered detailing.

When my client finally put them on – she looked at herself in the mirror –  saw how amazing they were, lit up toe tp head and then,  FELT SHE DIDN’T DESERVE THEM.

Wait a minute, what?!

Yes, it was true. This is how powerful shoes are, how intense their transformative effects.

She saw a different person in the mirror and was 100% not ready to embrace that person – even though it was a confident, turned on woman.

It was, of course quite the opposite I has wished for her. I had wished for her to step into that woman she satin the mirror, to embrace herself, to feel the power of shoes she loved and elevated her.

But it was not to be.

She demurred buying the shoes even though her husband was urging her to, even though that’s what she had booked her session with me for, even though standing in the holy hallowed Mecca of the second floor, with literally the cream of the world’s shoe crop at her feet. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She clutched her flats and said that these were ok for now. She was actually obviously shaken up. It was heartbreaking to see.

I never heard back from her once she flew back home and I do hope she came back at some point, and sauntered into BG like the badass woman she is and bought whatever pair of shoes caught her fancy, whatever lit her up, excited her just like she got excited about those stilettos. It’s my wish for all women everywhere to feel confident enough to step into whoever they want to be, whatever that is, whenever they want.