Creating your Personal Brand and Achieving a Strong Professional Image to Enhance Your Career and Personal Life – Step One

IMAGE CONSULTANTS ARE NOT JUST FOR MOVIE STARS!
by Stu Leventhal 

A lot of people just want to make a good impression on
their bosses, clients or neighbors. Some want to look good for their peers,
friends and family. Some want to look good in front of their special someone.
Many say it is too vain to be over conscious of our outward appearance, but in
reality it really does count to make a good first impression on people. That is
why there are specialists who excel at taking care of helping other people look
great… Image Consultants.

In the past, people looked for help in the pages of
magazines, on television and in catalogs searching for a hip look that they
wanted to copy. One of the things that made it hard for people to really carryout
the look well is that the haircuts, make up styles and the clothing outfits
were fitted to enhance the look of the person in the pictures who was usually a
model, in shape and exceptionally handsome or pretty to start with; and not your
everyday, person next door who was reading the magazine.

The dilemma of finding one’s best look is compounded by
all the different kinds of trends and fads that are popular at any given time. For
example; the three piece business suit has been a long time staple for
professional men and even for women but because the look has been around for so
long of a time there are people who shy away from tradition and experiment trying
out all kinds of different variations. Some succeed but for the majority of lay
people the looks they create when experimenting are disastrous!

Luckily, today, there are image consultants for working
professionals, students, homemakers and celebs. They can enrich our personal
style and at the same time make us confident and help us make those bold
decisions about our wardrobe experiments. Yes, it is a little sad that society is
more concerned with our physical attributes than our character but the truth is
we are frequently judged by our appearances. Our image is often the main thing
that people have with which to form their opinion of us. And yes, people do
frequently judge a book by its cover!

People are fickle about their looks yet understandably often
too embarrassed to talk with loved ones and the people they are close to about
sprucing up their personal appearances due to fear of rejection and ridicule. These
people can seek the help of a fashion or makeover professional, also called an
image consultant.

Usually an image consultant for working professional
looks beyond the closet and looks into the many possibilities that their
clients can have to enhance the personality they project. Weight loss programs,
public speaking classes, exercise regimes, recreational activities, extra education
opportunities and career training programs are all part of the image
enhancement program.

When fashion is concerned, an image consultant for professionals
must first take into consideration what they are dressing their clients for.
Image consultants should consider the industry that their clients are working
for, they should also take into consideration the position of their client in
the company, another factor to consider is age and another is the occasion or
the event they will use a particular look for. What is the goal of the new look;
romance, a pay raise, confidence, more of a look of authority? 

Because of all these things they have to consider, the
wise image consultant will usually choose to have a total makeover of the
person’s lifestyle, physical appearance and wardrobe. The makeover usually starts
with the person’s personality. The person should be able to be at ease with
their body no matter how it looks. The Image one projects is more than what you
look like, it is more about how you feel about yourself.

An image consultant for working professionals must take the
time necessary to understand the personal lifestyle that their client wants as
well as the image they want to project. For the program to be successful long
term, the client will have to try their very best to cooperate and do what
needs to be done to make the initial changes quickly. The hard work will come
with trying to maintain the changes and fighting ones natural urges to go back
to the past routines. 

*Stay tuned for ‘Step Two’ of ‘Creating your Personal Brand
and Achieving a Strong Professional Image’

REFERENCES:
Philadelphia Restaurant Consultant:
The restaurant business doctors. We fix food and beverage
industry upper management problems and excel at consulting and mentoring restaurant
and bar owners who find themselves in a jam!
http://www.philadelphiarestaurantconsultant.wordpres.com