Rod Alan Baker [RADIO INTERVIEW]

Meet Rod Alan Baker, The “Clothing Psychologist,” Expert Stylist & Author of Extraordinarily You-From the Inside Out.

LASM x TDR:  Trip Digital Radio  presents L.A STYLE Magazine. TizThaTime, Markeeda Monét, Tricia Love. Ashley Ravin Dave. Wow. Special guest, right! It’s beautiful people in here today, man.

LASM: Yes it is. So, Tricia Love. Can You bring in our guest!  I can. We have with us the extraordinary Rod Alan. Rod Alan Baker. The Dapper Don is in the house. Rod is looking fly. I’m trying to tell you. You’ve got to have a conversation.

Rod Alan: I’m talking about.

LASM x TDR: Yes. Well Rod, for audiences learning. Tell them a little bit about you and where you came from. I know today you’re a stylist. You also do custom clothes. But tell us about the beginning of the journey.

Rod Alan: The beginning of the dream started when I was a little kid. I would think I was telling you a little earlier on Tricia. My Dad was a real dresser and I was just something and seeing him, that’s what I wanted to do every day. I wanted to dress. I wanted to be me. And so it’s been a 38 year run, been doing this 38 years.

LASM x TDR: Wow.

Rod Alan: A change in life.

LASM x TDR: Looking flat. Congratulations for that, man.

Rod Alan: So I love it.

LASM x TDR: Well we can tell you’ve been in it for awhile because you are everything to sitting next to us.

Rod Alan: Thank you.

LASM x TDR: So with that being said, Tricia and I cannot wait to ask you about this book that has been published. We have been talking about that. I don’t know for how long. Please tell us a little bit about that book.

Rod Alan: Well, one of the things that I have found in my career is one of the most stressful times in people’s lives is six o’clock every morning when they go to their lives and they asked themselves what in the world am I going to wear? Just time. And one of the things I’ve found is the reason why they have such a hard time is because they don’t even, they don’t know what they want to communicate for that day.

LASM x TDR: Okay. Wow. That is…

Rod Alan: And so what I’ve done is when I dress people, I go inside. So I get to know who they are to where I bring out what they want to communicate to the public. Because your clothes do that. Whether you think to do or not.

LASM x TDR: I’ve never heard that before.

Rod Alan: Every day. So I dressed people from the inside out. Opposite of what retail and a lot of stores do is they say, this is what we have where it, because that’s good stuff. That’s the style. That’s not how I do it. I go inside and I find out what is it that you want to communicate in what you wear every day because it will, I always say your clothing speaks long before you do.

LASM x TDR: Okay. Right. You are so amazing. I just feel like love, like that is so beautiful on so many levels that you want people basically, we want to know what we want to communicate for that day.

Rod Alan: Yeah. And a lot of it has to do with what you’re passionate about? I mean if you’re, if you’re into baseball, guess what? Everything you do, everything that’s a part of you is baseball or race cars or I don’t know, real estate. It can be whatever your passionate about. And then the other part is your personality. Because we all have different personalities and that makeup of our personality.

LASM x TDR: Yeah.

Rod Alan: It’s crazy because some people when they walk into the room, they want all eyes on them. There are other people that kind of just one on one to slide in and don’t want anybody to know that they’re there. So everybody’s a little bit different. Some people are more expressive, some people are more analytical and so that actually is part of how you dress every day.

LASM x TDR: I got a question about that then. So how do you come to that, I know you said you dress from the inside out, right? Yeah. But you coming up with a whole bunch of information, right? So what are you going, did you have a psychology degree too? And you, what?

Rod Alan: I didn’t? But what I learned of meeting people is that there were part, actually part of my concept, the extraordinarily you concept that I’ve been using all my life is part of a makeup of personality types. There’s clinical studies of personality types. Like there’s the doer personality, there’s intellect, personality, there’s the optimist person. And then there’s…

LASM x TDR: Are they all in separate categories because you just called me on like three different ways.

Rod Alan: …Exactly. And then there’s the giver. The crazy part is that we all have like a primary secondary, and as we mature in life, we actually take on a lot more big. That’s what makes us chameleons for us to be able to communicate with all types of people.

LASM x TDR: And in your book, do you call that address language? is that what you do?

Rod Alan: That’s what I call dress language.

LASM x TDR: Indeed.

Rod Alan: Yeah. Because every day you’re communicating this picture of you, one of the things I always say is that, whatever that picture of you that you want people to remember. See, I’m going to remember when I talked to you the next time, I’m going to remember this.

LASM x TDR: Sparkle?

Rod Alan: That’s you. Exactly. So I’m going to remember you.

LASM x TDR: Sparkles, Unicorns and rainbows.

Rod Alan: There you go. So that’s what I call the dress language that…

LASM x TDR: I love that.

Rod Alan: …you’re communicating to people every day. And what is it that you want people to remember you by?

LASM x TDR: What if it depends on the day. That mean like that bad.

Rod Alan: How many dress languages do people have or can afford to have.

LASM x TDR: Because sometimes I want attention on what I’m wearing. Then sometimes I don’t.

Rod Alan: That’s right.

LASM x TDR: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Rod Alan: Well…

LASM x TDR: That you have a bipolar dress language? No okay. Wow. That I wear sparkle even if I’m sad inside. And I wear sparkle when I’m excited.

Rod Alan: … except make up to you.

LASM x TDR: Yeah. But I mean just a little bit. Seeing the boots, right? Look at them now. Yeah. They’re powerful collection. Yeah. Powerful baby. Collection. Powerful. That’s what I’m talking about.

Rod Alan: No. You know what, part of it is, another part of the concept is, what is the group and the setting that you find yourself? If you’re in a, like I’ll go into someone’s office and they’re like IT guys, and they’re just like really intellectual type of people. I might not walk in there all floral, and all crazy, and all sparkly, and all that.

LASM x TDR: Right.

Rod Alan: I mean stress it way down because they’re in cargo shorts and tee shirts and flip flops. I’m probably not going to walk in like this.

LASM x TDR: You don’t want to communicate intimidation.

Rod Alan: Yeah. I don’t want them to think I’m the IRS or something like that.

LASM x TDR: Right. Right.

Rod Alan: Totally hiding from it.

LASM x TDR: Exactly. Totally.

Rod Alan: So part of it does have to do with the group in the setting that you find yourself into. You know what I mean.

LASM x TDR: Yeah Man, I definitely, we speak in language. We’re speaking language. I mean because like you were saying Trish about your moods, because there’s sometimes when I want to just throw on some bright yellows. And just because I’d just like wild stuff sometime, but then yeah, a lot of time I mute it down. And there’s other reasons for that. But we won’t get into that. But how do you, but I still want to know how do you get that information? Is it just the conversation that you have…

Rod Alan: A lot of the times.

LASM x TDR: … or is it a long, I mean, how much time you take?

Rod Alan: That’s why the clothes that someone wears is communicating a lot. So sometimes when I first meet someone for that first time, there’s a lot of their personality that’s in what they were or their hair or whatever it is. I mean that right there tells me a lot about that person that they are very optimistic. And their smile and just that presence about them. The way they talk. You could tell I’m a very expressive individual, I’m a very passionate individual about what I do. And so that right there exudes from my clothes whether I’m saying anything or not because that’s what I want people to remember me by.

LASM x TDR: Right.

Rod Alan: It’s that part of it? I don’t know if, does that make sense?

LASM x TDR: No. It does.

Rod Alan: The other part is talking to them and getting to know them. And getting to know how they make decisions. Is it based on emotion? Is it based on facts, is it based on results or is it based on relationships? That makes sense. We all make decisions differently. So…

LASM x TDR: Extraordinarily you. Wow. That’s wonderful. That’s the name of your book, right?

Rod Alan: Extraordinarily you from the inside out.

LASM x TDR: From the inside out. As long as we hear and there, if they have, I know this is kind of weird but it’s kind of off. But they have these little things where you can go online now, right. And you can get a fashion designer or whatever. They send you these clothes in the mail. How do you feel about that, and how does that affect you? Because I know what you do is tailored and it just seems like it’s real personal is there. But then they have this and they state that they’re doing the same exact thing.

Rod Alan: Well, they do it a lot more off of algorithms. And of course our whole society is in how we’re doing things is so algorithm based. I mean from the Facebooks to the iPhones to the everything, but it doesn’t have that personal touch. And what I found to answer your question is that all of the years of getting to know people in all of the intricacies of their personalities and what they do for a living and, and how they grew up. I mean, that’s what makes us so individual. I always say it’s a, we’re all created individual masterpieces. One of a kind.

LASM x TDR: Right.

Rod Alan: And so I don’t think that algorithm can do that. Not yet.

LASM x TDR: Not at all.

Rod Alan: One day, one day maybe, but…

LASM x TDR: I don’t think so.

Rod Alan: That’s why…

LASM x TDR: We won’t be around.

Rod Alan: Right! That’s why I’ve tried to make, you know what I do, so individual. And so, to where you have to really go inside. And, but that’s…  because it literally change lives. I mean there’s, you, we all here are very fashionable, but there are a lot of people that struggle. They may be masterminds and math or IT, or cars, I don’t know. All different types of things. But when it comes to clothes, clueless.

LASM x TDR: And it affects our communication like others, like how they can maybe develop friends or network. I think if they’re out in a setting and you don’t really feel comfortable.

Rod Alan: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And these, I mean, I’ve been in their closets with them and they sit there and they’re like, I don’t know. I don’t know. They don’t, and literally they have closets full of clothes and they wear that much. That’s crazy. We all do. We all have closets full of clothes, but we always find ourselves just wearing about that much. The same thing instead of having a wardrobe. That was really what I do is I design wardrobes for people…

LASM x TDR: I love it.

Rod Alan: …based on their life and their lifestyle and all of their personality, all that kind of stuff. But its to really build a wardrobe that works every day without confusion or without anxiety and without that stress. So, that’s the deal.

LASM x TDR: I have a question. What do you want, I mean, you’ve been in the industry for 38 years. You’ve styled, I mean, corporate execs, celebrities, mass audiences. So what do you want your legacy to be like? What do you want people to remember you or by.

Rod Alan: To make dressing, something that’s easy and that something that truly communicates a masterpiece you are created to be.

LASM x TDR: Like the power behind that.

Rod Alan: Yeah. To give them the ease that I know and that I can turn around and help people where they’re communicating exactly what they want without having to sit there and talk about it on there. They’re already doing it. Do you know what I mean? I don’t know if that makes sense.

LASM x TDR: No it does. Complete sense. In spring of Patricia’s question. So, 38 years in the game, you’ve done a book. So many celebrities, mini, execs, she said, so what’s next? What’s that next step? What’s that next plateau for you?

Rod Alan: It’s taking that expertise to, to the masses. To really do it in a way that, it’s hard to duplicate 38 years. And the last thing I wanted to do is to go and just…  and it’s gone. I want to be able to help people. And so I’m just looking to do that on a global scale, on a larger scale. And we have the technology today that can do that. I mean, you can ask, you can ask Alexa. What about this, how do you spell this and all of that? But you know what she can’t do? She can’t tell you what to wear.

LASM x TDR: She can’t dress you. Wow.

Rod Alan: I can… One day she will.

LASM x TDR: Well, I’m curious to see how you do that and what comes from you.

Rod Alan: That’s what I’m working on.

LASM x TDR: That’s what seeing I get with L.A Style over here and see what you guys can collaborate on. Absolutely. Most definitely.

Rod Alan: It’s all about meeting people…

LASM x TDR: It really is.

Rod Alan: And just getting the name out there. So I really appreciate this opportunity.

LASM x TDR: Man. We appreciate you. Definitely. And with that said, man, where can people follow you? How can we find you on your social media? What can we do?

Rod Alan: I’m all over social media from the Facebooks and the Instagrams and all of that. It’s all about Rod Alan.

LASM x TDR: So it’s all under Rod Alan?

Rod Alan: Yes.

LASM x TDR: Just Rod Alan. That’s it. Okay. Awesome. Cool. But I did find Rod album custom and I did find like a Rod Alan style. Are those also you as well?

Rod Alan: Yes. Those are all, yeah. Custom…

LASM x TDR: And make it with an underscore people. So Rod Alan underscore style and underscore, custom, right?

Rod Alan: Custom is one side of my business. It’s something that I found, years ago when I first got in to the business at 19, I found, I was in this beautiful store and nobody would come in. I sit there and I folded clothes all day. I found that men hate to shop. And so that’s when I started doing custom because I could go out to see them. And so I’ve been doing customer every since. And I’ve been involved in pro sports and ESPN’s and all of those to make clothes for people that can’t just go into a store and buy clothes because there are too big, too small or whatever it is, they’re too tall. So that’s one side of my business. The style part of my business is where I literally shopped for people, both men and women and design wardrobes based on who they are. So that’s what I do.

LASM x TDR: We have to find out what this cost is because his brother neither… Well, as we go out, man, I want to say to you, thank you once again for coming on.

Rod Alan: Oh yeah.

LASM x TDR: Totally. I’m very interested in this, but I want to find out, we always ask our guests as they go out, we want to find out, what is your superpower?

Rod Alan: Oh, that’s the big guy upstairs.

LASM x TDR: Oh Man.

Rod Alan: Yeah. That’s where the extraordinarily you concept actually comes from that to go there too much. But there’s a verse that says that we’re all created masterpieces, exactly the way he wanted us to be. That’s where extraordinarily you comes from. Masterpiece.

LASM x TDR: That gave me goosebumps when you say that. I’m loving it.

Rod Alan: I figured, you know what, you base it off of that. You can’t go wrong.

LASM x TDR: No.

Rod Alan: Right!

LASM x TDR: Not at all. Thank you.

Rod Alan: You’re welcome.

LASM x TDR: So there you have it. Let’s give it up again. Rod Alan. Extraordinary Rod Alan.