I was 15, I started working at the mall at several different retailers. I LOVED putting together outfits to help people feel more confident. The hours and the pay weren’t great, and the management irked me, but I loved helping customers.
I was in the private sector for a long time working in a day job, and then my mom saw an article on a consultant named Darlene Mathis in the paper who was talking about how wearing certain clothes compliment the wearer and how you should have them in your wardrobe as well. I was talking to my hairdresser about the article (we tell our hairdressers everything anyway, right?) and my hairdresser actually knew this woman, so I got connected! Darlene decided to do a seminar since a lot of people called after seeing her in the article. It was a full day—half of the day we learned how to find someone’s best colors, and the other half was spent on applying makeup.
I took this class around 2001, and noticed that other training on how to do image consulting was outrageously expensive and I couldn’t afford to travel to the consultants and pay for the classes. So I read every book I could get my hands on around fashion, body typing, and image. I kept working and did other things for 2 years until I came across AICI in 2006, or the Association of Image Consultants International, which has three levels of certification; the First Level Certification (FLC), The Certified Image Professional (CIP) and the Certified Image Master (CIM), of which there are only 8 in the world. It was at a conference where I met Carla Mathis, a CIM. Her company is Body Beautiful. I took two of Carla’s Certification classes and loved it! She is truly a professional and a wonderful person. Although I don’t have my AICI certification anymore because the cost of maintaining the certification didn’t translate to business for me, I still attend some of their trade association meetings. I’ve had the chance to be part of Stacy London’s new venture, Style for Hire (www.styleforhire.com) and I am certified through her company as well. I keep up with my education on fashion, style and business by reading the latest books. I am also a makeup artist; I freelanced for MAC Cosmetics for a few years and Christian Dior Cosmetics as well. The only part of image I don’t do is hair, and my daughter is studying cosmetology right now, so I won’t have to!
Did you, or are you running your business as a part-time or full-time venture? Why?
I run this business full-time. I’m also a full-time student at George Mason now studying communication.
Did you take on a partner in your business at any time in either of your businesses?
No. I never took a partner in this image consulting business, but I did have a partner in my former business. The cool thing about having a partner then was that I started the business, but she ran it. She took care of the books and paperwork. Problem was, when she stopped taking care of everything, I had to. She had other businesses she was developing too, so we decided to shut the business down. I realized I needed to get educated on how to run a business, so I went to the Community Business Partnership in Springfield, VA (www.cbponline.org) and took some great classes by experts on how to start, fund and run a business.
If you had to start another business, what have you learned that you might do differently—either about yourself, or about how to run a business in general?
I’m actually going into business with a friend of mine who has a dance studio in Washington D.C. We’re expanding her business into Virginia. She has bachelorette parties and she teaches pole dancing, yoga and is a personal trainer. I’ll be offering fashion and image consultations through her business expansion as well. We want to find someone who can run the dance studio too.
How important were mentors in your entrepreneurial career?
Well, I can’t say I had any that were directly for entrepreneurship. I had a boss, Barbara Williams, who had a huge positive influence on me. She was classy, she knew her stuff, and she was not a micromanager. She taught me about the importance of how you present yourself in a business setting. There were a LOT of examples of how NOT to present yourself in business that we worked around.
I also have a client now whose husband took over a business and sold it off recently, so I had the chance to talk to him about his business. I’ve also been connected through them to their interior designer in Miami, so I guess, now that I think about it, I’ve had more mentors in the past 3-6 months on how to operate a business than I’ve ever had.
Did you start your business with your own capital?
Yes. It wasn’t that expensive to start. I started it for around $500—I had to have a business license, incorporate, and other things. My friend built my website for me.
How important are your social and personal networks to the success of your business?
Networking is HUGE. One of the things I did last year was join Success in the City (www.successinthecity.com), a local group in Washington, D.C. The lady who founded it is Cynthia de Lorenzi—she’s so fabulous and calls herself the head diva. The networking group is founded on women doing better in nurturing and supporting each other—we socialize differently than men, who play golf, as an example. Talking and nurturing relationships are how business gets done with women…that’s what we do. A lot of referrals and work I do now is because of having these different relationships with other networking groups. The other networking group I participate in is Work it Girl! Networking, headed by Supergirl Teresa Young, (www.workitgirlnetworking.com). They have great speakers come and talk about their business or whatever their passions are during lunch. There’s no membership fee, you just pay for lunch and meet some great women!
What is your personal definition of success, and have you achieved it?
I don’t know that I have a definition yet. For me, success is not all about the money. It instead is about who you help and the relationships you make along the way. For me, the best part about what I do is that I have the power to change someone’s life by improving the way they feel about how they look. That effects their life. People want to pooh-pooh style and fashion, but image really does make a difference. People who look like bums don’t become the CEO of Microsoft. You don’t have to be a GQ model, but you can change the way you look and improve your life. If I’m able to do that and support my family, that to me is success.
What didn’t I ask you about you and your business that you wanted me to?
I have been listening to Robert Kiyosaki on a CD called Choose to Be Rich. I actually had it for a while, but forgot about it and then I went back to listen to it again. He talks about people who are poor, rich and middle class and how they think differently, not good or bad, just how they think. For me, I’ve been thinking a lot about having the entrepreneurial mindset. People who have made it big found an unmet need and filled it. He challenges us to think about what we really do and how we really think and who we can help. He also suggested one of the ways to get rich is to have three different piggy banks—say if you have a $100 in income, you should put $10 in savings, $10 in tithing and $10 in investments. If you lose your investments, you have your savings to fall back on. The tithing can be giving to your church or your charity, but you are giving and that will be reciprocated.
I think this is similar to being an entrepreneur. What are you giving to other people? How are you planning for that in your future as well? Everyone can lose everything
