What if your clothing could do more than express your style? What if it could transform your mindset?

In this episode, Kimberly Wilkerson, founder of Token Clothing Company™, shares how she transitioned from speech-language pathologist to fashion entrepreneur, and how she’s using affirming language, neuroscience, and positive psychology to create Intelligent Fashion™ that boosts confidence and self-love.

Kimberly dives into the story behind her signature lines like Pajamas With Purpose™ and I AM Tees, and how each piece is designed to edify the wearer and the observer. From her intentional approach to apparel design to her mission-driven partnership with Refuge for Women, this episode is a masterclass in building visibility from the inside out.

You’ll learn:

• How fashion and psychology can work together
• The story behind Token Clothing Co.
• What “Intelligent Fashion™” really means
• How visibility is both an internal and external practice
• How to build a heart-led brand rooted in purpose

🔗 Learn more about Kimberly and Token Clothing Co: https://www.tokenclothingco.com

🎧 Subscribe and listen!

Welcome to the Visibility Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs

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Podcast, where we empower female business

owners to step boldly into the spotlight

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and claim the recognition they deserve.

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I'm your host, Tori Barker.

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I'm passionate about helping women

like you transform your visibility

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into tangible business success.

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Each week on this show, we'll dive

deep into game changing strategies,

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share inspiring success stories from

women who've mastered their visibility

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and offer practical, actionable

advice you can implement immediately.

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Whether you're just starting your

entrepreneurial journey, pivoting

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your business model, or ready to

elevate your existing presence to new

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heights, you'll discover effective

approaches to create exciting

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opportunities and expand your reach.

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So let's harness the power

of strategic visibility and

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grow your business together.

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Welcome to the show.

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Tori Barker: Welcome

back to the show today.

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I am super excited to introduce

our guest, Kimberly Wilkerson.

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Kimberly, how are you today?

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Uh, I'm great.

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It's summer.

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The birds are chirping.

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The sun is out.

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The garden's growing.

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Right.

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What mama did you ask for?

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Tori Barker: Exactly.

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It's a beautiful day.

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So let's start with your journey

and how your background in speech

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pathology has led you to start the

company, the token clothing company.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Sure.

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So it's, it's kind of fun and,

and kind of interesting I think

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when I was in graduate school.

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Goodness.

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20 years ago now for speech

pathology, I was doodling fashion

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designs on in the edges of my notes.

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Now, I'm not a great artist,

so they didn't look superb.

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However, I knew at that point that

at at one day, some point I wanted

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a fashion company and I didn't

know what it was gonna look like.

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I didn't know what I

was gonna bring forward.

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I just knew that I wanted

that, and I remember thinking.

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At 1.2,

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why are you paying all of

this money for school if you

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wanna have a fashion company?

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But I really did know that

speech pathology was part of

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my path and I wanted to do it.

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And I'm so grateful I did

because I have really enjoyed it.

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And of course over the years I

took some classes, uh, some private

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lessons that, that with people that.

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They helped me be able to draw a little

bit better, understand fashion better.

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I studied color and texture and design

just on the side as I also gained

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education, more education and greater

capacity as a speech language pathologist.

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And finally, back in around 20 20, 21, of

course, we were in the heat of COVID-19,

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and everything was a little bit nutty.

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I had an opportunity as a speech

pathologist to go down and

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work in the US Virgin Islands.

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And I scuba dive and snorkel, and I

absolutely love the tropics, and so I

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thought this is such a great opportunity

for me to still make money as a speech

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pathologist, but also do it in a

setting that I would absolutely love.

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However, I also felt the nudge

that I needed to start my company.

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And I finally decided even with

everything that was going on with,

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uh, supply chain demands and costs,

there were lots of things going on.

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I just thought, okay,

I've gotta take that leap.

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And so I decided to put the offer

for the Virgin Islands to the side,

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knowing I could go back at any time,

hopefully, and, uh, move forward in

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launching Token clothing company.

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And as I started looking

through all of my notes.

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Over the years of classes I had

taken and studies that I had done

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and designs that I had drawn.

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I noticed that there were words everywhere

in my notes around those designs.

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Some of it was because I had to

explain what the drawing was, since,

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again, artistry is not my forte,

but also I saw all of these positive

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words because when I would doodle,

I would doodle with language.

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And it was really interesting to recognize

that my experience as a speech pathologist

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and, and just by nature, who I am and

some of the passions I have for life.

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Had to do with words and with language.

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And so I determined that I wanted to

fuse powerful language, knowing the

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neuroscience and positive, positive

psychology research behind that

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language with the platform of fashion.

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And so the first line that we brought

forward is pajamas with purpose,

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and I thought with pajamas, which.

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COVID helped create a

golden era of pajamas.

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Whether that's good or bad, I don't know.

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Right?

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But, but nonetheless,

that's what happened.

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And I, I thought, you know what?

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This is.

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A time when we wear pajamas that

we think more quietly, we're

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a little bit more reflective.

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Usually it's the nighttime.

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Um, we are ready to settle down, have a

little bit more, an intimate experience

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maybe with our thoughts and ourselves.

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And I thought, wouldn't that be great

to reflect upon language that is

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powerful and edifying through pajamas?

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So that is how pajamas

with Purpose came along.

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And then I think it was about

a year after that we launched,

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which I'm wearing today, are.

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Ts, which are I am T's

again, using language that

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edifies and like the pajamas.

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These are designed so as a person

wearing this t-shirt, I can look in

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the mirror and I can read this powerful

language and have my mindset transformed.

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You can look at me and also

read the language and have

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your mindset transformed.

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So that is a niche piece of token

clothing company is that we, we edify

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the woman or the girl who's using our

product, but we make sure that they

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can then edify those who are in their

space, paying them forward, always.

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Yeah.

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So that is a really brief

nutshell of speech pathologist

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to token clothing company.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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Well, I love that because, you know,

looking on your website at the, the,

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like specifically the t-shirt line where

it, you could see the, the text, right.

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The words, but then you

see backwards words.

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Yeah.

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And until you just said that, I

didn't realize what that meant.

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And so it's so cool to kind of think of.

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From a perspective of reflection,

right, because you look in the mirror

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for you to see the words, but then

also, like you just said, other people

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can read them because of the, the.

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Text, I guess, I don't know, forward

facing, however you explain it.

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Um, but it's so cool to kind of tie

in that reflection piece because

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that's truly what you're doing when

you're looking at these words on

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your clothes or you know, whatever.

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You know when you're standing

in the mirror getting ready for

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the day, you see these powerful.

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Inspiring words that are going to

not only, you know, get your mindset

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right, but make you feel confident,

proud, whatever it might be.

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So it's amazing.

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And I love, I love that niche of

like reflection for the person who's

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wearing it to see the words, and then

also for other people looking at you.

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That's amazing.

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Yeah.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Yeah.

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It's all about self, like you

said, self-love, self-confidence,

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self-empowerment, because we need that.

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And we, and especially because of

the, some of the mental and emotional

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health challenges that most all of us.

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Face and some of us struggle

with more than others.

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We need to be able to train our

minds to speak kindly and to develop

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love and compassion for ourselves.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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So where did, so since, since language

and words are such, um, a integral

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part of who you are, where did

token clothing company come from?

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Is there any like meaning

behind the word token?

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Uh, yes,

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Kimberly Wilkerson: there is.

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Thank you.

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Right.

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I, I've been very

intentional in every piece.

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Actually that word comes from.

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Scripture, uh, just reading scripture and

looking at some appendices of scripture.

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As I was looking at that,

I'm like, this is perfect.

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Because a token is a

representation, right?

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When we think of what a token is,

usually it represents something else.

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And again, words represent

something profound to us.

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So all of that plays.

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The name of token plays

into itself, right?

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We're we're wearing things that represent,

it's really interesting when you think

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about language, and of course, because

I'm a speech pathologist and a nerd in

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that I, I know this is so fascinating, but

most people just don't think about this.

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When you think about language, like you

think about the word, I don't know, smile.

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If you were just to take those letters

and like turn them upside down or turn

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them on their side like a squi, you

know, squiggly lines and align with a.in

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this straight line.

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What does that actually mean?

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It's fascinating how this visual marker

can mean something in our language,

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and certainly it would mean something

in a different language, right?

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So there are representations

and symbols all around us.

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And it's how we use that symbolism

to, again, edify our lives and

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to reach our potential that's

important through our choices.

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So token clothing is all about, it's

just not about fashion, but it's about

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who we can become and who we really are.

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Tori Barker: That's so amazing.

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I think that, you know, tying this into

the visibility side of things like.

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When you are truly, uh, authentic in

who you are, and you've internally

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identified your visibility that

you can show up in your full self.

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Because of that.

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And so I love having this language

to support and, um, you know, enhance

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your confidence or, you know, make

you feel this clarity around who

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you are by using language to remind

you to, um, you know, to give people

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an understanding of who you are.

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It's such an amazing tie in

with the language and the

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visibility side of things.

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Internally and externally.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I sometimes when I present, because

I present to, to numerous groups,

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I, I ask 'em the question, can you

imagine if you didn't have language

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today, what, how your life would look

different, whether it was written or

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oral or nonverbal, meaning our facial

expressions or gestures or movements.

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If we were void of language,

what would our world look like?

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It.

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We can't even fathom that because we're

interacting as people all day we're

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and, and sometimes we're interacting

with a book, we're interacting online.

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All of it is communication and language,

and we have to understand how to use

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that language to best meet our needs

and to serve other people and to move

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forward how we wanna move forward.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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So it's interesting.

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One of the phrases you use in

your brand is intelligent fashion

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that grows self con, that grows

self-confidence and inspires love.

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So why is that phrase so

powerful in your brand?

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Yeah.

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Thank you for, for that question.

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Actually, intelligent fashion

is something I've coined.

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I'm sure you've probably heard of

smart fashion that's been around the

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fashion industry for some years and

usually that deals with some piece of

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tech, whether you wear clothing that

can, um, measure your body temperature.

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There's just one example, right?

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So, but intelligent fashion,

again, when we look at the word

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intelligence and I go back.

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Both to secular and spiritual.

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So in scriptures, intelligence

is truth and light.

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When you look at definitions in

scriptures, which that is what this

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fashion is, is all about, it is about

bringing light to the world and helping

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people understand who they really are.

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When we look at secular.

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Definitions of that word.

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It's all about knowledge and learning.

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And certainly again, this, this

fashion company is about teaching

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people how to use language in ways

that help them reach their potential

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and transform their mindset.

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So.

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So I, I've, again, I've coined that,

in fact, I published a white paper last

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summer about intelligent fashion and

what that actually means, uh, in our

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society and how that can be a solution

to some of our mental health challenges.

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Um, but with this company, when you

can use fashion, the platform of

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fashion in a way that transforms

that mindset, you can grow self-love.

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Yeah.

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You can, that self-confidence, again,

it's through language that those things

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happen, whether it's fashion or not.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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That's so amazing.

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I, I love that.

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I'm just like, Ugh.

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I'm sitting here.

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Like, ugh.

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I'm so in love with

this, this conversation.

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So, so tell me about, like, as you've been

building token clothing company, has there

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been any surprises that, uh, you weren't

expecting when you started the company?

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Or maybe some challenges that

you've, um, encountered that

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you're overcoming or have overcome?

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Um, based on your current situation.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Sure.

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I, I, yes, yes, yes.

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Right.

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I mean, as an entrepreneur,

everyone knows, are you kidding me?

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Like, I mean, all you do is problem solve.

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That

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is the definition of

being an entrepreneur.

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You're a problem solver.

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There's this piece in us that loves it,

even though sometimes we wanna maybe

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pound our head into a wall, right?

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In moments, there's also this piece

where like, yes, we, we can do this.

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And so certainly, I, I don't have

a background in fashion design.

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Again, my background is in science

and the arts, like language arts.

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Uh, but so a lot, everything

was shooting from the hip.

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But I also know how to ask really

good questions and how to research

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and ponder and think about,

hey, what, what's gonna happen?

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And even with that, there's still

things you're like, I had no idea.

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So one, so a couple of things

just in production, right?

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So this was a few years ago, but

when I was working with a mill in

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California, everything's done in the USA.

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Uh, they had never done

this with the pajamas.

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They had never done

printing on the interior of.

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A garment.

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So with the pajamas, the tops are

reversible, but I purposely wanted

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the words to rest against the skin.

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That is based upon

Masaru Emoto's research.

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Many people might know who he is.

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He's done a lot of research.

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He's passed away, but he did a lot

of research with water and language

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and what happened with crystals

as you added a word to water,

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and we're about 60% water, right?

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So I'm like, I want those words resting

on us, but I want them to be reversible.

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So the mill, and they

did a really good job.

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But one of the things, again, because

this was a new project, they did a

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quality check on the exterior side.

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Of the pajamas, or maybe it was

actually it was the, they did a

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quality check on the interior side

because that's where the words were.

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They didn't do a quality check

on the exterior side, even though

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it needed to to be that way.

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'cause especially with the

pants, that's what you see.

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And so there were some, so 5% of

that fabric, it's modal French Terry,

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which is luxurious, but 5% spandex.

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So there were some spandex breaks

throughout the reams of fabric

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that we didn't know until we got

it to the cut and sew factory.

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Someone's like, okay, how do you

deal with all the loss of that?

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Right.

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With with working with them and

then, you know, again, at the cut

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and so factory, I think we had 25

sets of pajamas that were actually

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cut upside down 'cause of the words.

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Right.

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And again, just even though I

tried to communicate as well

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as I could, mistakes happen.

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And so recognizing even though that's

a lot of money that's lost and you have

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to figure out how to negotiate it and

deal with the production side of it.

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I learned.

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I'm like, alright, Kimberly, even though

you think you might be communicating

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really well, how can you mitigate future,

future happenings and make sure, right?

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Like I just didn't even know that

I'd have to worry about these things.

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And that's okay.

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You learn it.

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You learn as you go along.

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Something with all entrepreneurs,

whether it's services or products,

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is you have a great service, you

have a great product, but how do you

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really get it out in front of people?

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And that's a continual.

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Challenge, right?

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It's like, well, okay, yes, I have this

really fun line, this fashion line that is

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meaningful, but how do I get it in front

of the right people and enough of the

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people, so then it becomes more viable.

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Yeah.

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Uh, and, and, but again, that

is, that's part of the game.

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That is just part of, of what we do

as entrepreneurs and we keep working

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at it and we believe, like I really

strongly know that that's true.

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You have to believe in that

product and that service that

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you're offering because there is.

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Magic and power that happens in belief.

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Yeah.

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And so that's how I face it is, you

know, there are days that are really

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rough, but you keep moving forward.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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You have to keep the,

the, the momentum going.

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Take one step at a time, even

if it's a baby step, right.

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You know that the motion is

moving forward and you know

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what you're talking about right?

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There exactly.

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Is visibility.

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Visibility for your brand.

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Visibility for you, right?

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Like getting your name out in front

of, you know, the people who need to

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learn about token clothing company,

and then visibility for your brand so

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people understand what this brand is

all about and the intelligent fashion

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and you know, the pajama line and just

exactly what you're talking about.

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All these amazing little

details about your company that.

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You need to, to, uh, convey like the,

the words within the clothing so that

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it's so close to your skin, right close

to your heart, or wherever it might be.

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And then the visual, the reflection

of the words in the mirror, like

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those are so integral to your brand.

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And those are stories and messages

that people need to hear and learn

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about because they're gonna fall in

love with the company and the clothing

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because of those little details.

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Right,

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Kimberly Wilkerson: and, and that's

what we want again, is it is fashion,

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yet it's so much more that, that

was my purpose as I moved forward.

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I knew that, you know, 20 years

ago, I'm like, I wanna do something

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different than I see being done.

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I just didn't know what it

would look like until I got to

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the point of knowing anything.

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Much.

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Tori Barker: And what has your

own personal visibility been

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since starting this company?

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Like, I don't know if, if you

are more of a reserved person, do

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you like being front and center?

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Like how have you like maybe overcome

being visible for the, you know,

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owner and founder of the company?

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Kimberly Wilkerson: You know,

that's a great question.

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I don't think I've ever

been asked that actually.

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And I would say I, years ago I was a

public speaker for the state of Wyoming.

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Uh, in fact, I'll just, I'll share this.

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I was Miss Wyoming in the

Miss America program, so I

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performed on multiple stages.

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I spoke in front of large

audiences and crowds.

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So being able to be visible and

share, especially something that

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I'm passionate about and know

can really transform people's

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lives, it's absolutely fun for me.

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Uh, I haven't had, that is a piece

I haven't had to overcome, I guess.

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And I know some people do.

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They're like, I don't wanna

speak in front of people or

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even speak on a podcast for me.

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I'm like, it's nothing.

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Let's talk, let's, let's go.

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There's other things that, you know, I've

struggled with not having the success

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I want at the, at the rate I want it.

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You know, certainly doubting myself

and my abilities, but that piece of

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being visible, I've been able to, uh,

be a guest on multiple podcasts and

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been able, again, to, uh, give, uh,

presentations to, to various groups.

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And so that's something

that is really fun for me.

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And when you do love something

and you know, like, I know

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for every entrepreneur, right?

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It's your baby, right?

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You know it inside and out and

everything up here and right.

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You have this experience that

no one else understands about

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what you've tried to create.

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Being able to share that

is a pure delight for me.

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Tori Barker: Yeah, and it's like, you're

like, I got this visibility thing down.

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Like, what's the next one?

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Right.

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Bring on the next

problem I've gotta solve.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: No there

there's always, there's there.

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I think there's always ways to

improve, and again, one of the reasons

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why I wrote that white paper was.

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The visibility, maybe not just from

me, I was the author of it, but

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to help other industries as well

as the fashion industry understand

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what they can do, uh, in a way of.

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Supporting and helping

our mental health crisis.

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And I think that, again, that's a,

that's a really important piece.

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One other thing I'll share since we're

talking about visibility, and you

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might have seen this on the website,

is we do have an initiative called

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Pay It Forward with Pajamas, where

we've partnered with the organization

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Refuge for Women, which is our nation's

largest long-term rehabilitation center.

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For women who have been sex trafficked.

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And I knew from the get go

that I wanted a philanthropic

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arm of token clothing company.

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And so within a few months of

launching, I had reached out to a few

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different organizations and felt that

refuge for women was the best fit.

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And so customers have the opportunity

to come onto that page on our site

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and look at these women, um, and read

their hopes and their dreams, right?

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We know that they've been

through horrific situations.

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Nonetheless, they still have.

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Have goals and have dreams for this life.

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And then a customer can gift them a pair

of pajamas and in the checkout process,

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write a personal note of encouragement.

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Oh, that's, that token clothing

company fulfills to that woman.

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So that's another way that we're

trying to, to partner with the

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community, not just to become visible,

but also to help women who have

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really suffered incredible trauma.

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Tori Barker: Yeah.

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That's an amazing, uh, attribute to

giving back and, you know, not only

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helping those women in need, but

also, you know, fulfilling a purpose.

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Right.

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It's so amazing to, to be in a

space that you can do that and to

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help other people and, um, yeah.

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That's awesome.

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Yeah.

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So let's wrap this up and maybe can you

give one piece of advice for a female

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entrepreneur who is maybe building a heart

led business, um, what's one step that

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they can take or maybe a mindset shift,

uh, to help them in the right direction

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for building and growing their business?

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Sure.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: So there's multiple

things, but here's the first one

433

that comes to mind is there they're

going to be, again, the ebbs and

434

the flows, and there are going to

be some even deep and dark spots.

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Yeah, just expect that.

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Accept them because in those spots you

will question, why am I doing this?

437

I see a hundred other people doing this,

what makes me different, et cetera.

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Right.

439

That is, I think that's, those

are common considerations.

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Absolutely.

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And, and sometimes if we, we can

take them though, and we can make

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them a very negative experience.

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It's all right to consider and

into question, but it's when we

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mu over them and ruminate on them,

and it can get darker and darker.

445

Oh my, my piece of advice is to remember.

446

That you have.

447

Every single one of us has specific

qualities, unique qualities to

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us, ways that we address issues,

ways that we communicate that

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are different from anyone else.

450

And yes, there might be, you know, a

hundred other people that want this

451

person's service or this person's product,

but there are going to be people that

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want your service and your product because

of what you bring to the table that.

453

Everyone else doesn't.

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Yeah, so, so don't give up because

it's easy to just be like, nothing's

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working, everything's cleaning.

456

I, no one wants this.

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Like, why am I doing this?

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There are people that will want it.

459

Again, whether it's a service or a product

that are going to be blessed and benefited

460

by it, and so continue to show up because

I guarantee you just like getting to the

461

gym and lifting those weights, you are

building muscles and you're building.

462

A, a work body that is going

to be prepared to do those

463

things that are coming your way.

464

But you have to go through the

trenches verbally to be able to

465

then to be prepared and ready to

show up exactly how you need to.

466

So.

467

Tori Barker: Very inspiring, Kimberly.

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Thank you so much.

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I think that's the key.

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You just gotta keep showing up even

when you don't feel like a hundred

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percent, uh, it's a little bit of a

messy middle, whatever it might be,

472

you just gotta keep moving forward.

473

Like we said, take that one step every

day to propel you into the, the next

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phase of your life, your journey.

475

And the growth of yourself personally

and and your business as well.

476

So thank you for that advice.

477

I, I think that's very helpful.

478

So how can people get in touch with you or

learn more about Token Clothing Company?

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Sure.

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I would just say come to our website

'cause you can find our socials there

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and that is www.tokenclothingco.com.

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So token clothing, c o.com

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and you can learn more about us there.

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Tori Barker: Thank you so

much for being a guest today.

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I love learning everything about

your company and all of the nuances

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and intricacies and the, the thought

and love that you've put into it.

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And it's just been so, um, fun

to, to get to know you a little

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bit more and share your story.

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Kimberly Wilkerson: Thank

you for letting me be here.

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It's been fun for me too.