"EVEN IMAGE CONSULTANTS NEED IMAGE CONSULTANTS"

Dare I write these sacred words that we, the people who dress and help people may need help ourselves???

Well, yes we do.  I started to notice comments that some Image Consultants were making about others and  behavioural observations.  The comments and observations were negative.  There seemed to be much resistance surrounding an issue that our business of dressing others to feel better about projecting who they are, is not what we should be looking like.  Sounds confusing I know.  Basically said, our business isn't about how we look, so much as it is about the business of business.  Well, our business is about how we present ourselves and also about how we conduct ourselves in business.  You can look great from the outside, but if your behaviour is less than civil, then your clothing has no power.  I wanted to try and figure out more where this was coming from and really what the bottom line was.  It is fear.  Fear of letting something go that was there and how does that happen.  How does that happen to us as Image Consultants and if it does, then how do we get help? We need to trust, and then ask for help.

I know some of you may be wondering why or how does this come about?  It is called Life.  Life sometimes gets in the way.  If you are going through something stressful, it can seriously affect your work and then extend into how you look at work.  We can only hide so much... In our profession as Image Consultants, it is a tad more difficult to not let that show because it can be damaging to our work. 

This was true for me last year when my Mother-in-law was diagnosed terminal with Cancer.  I remember feeling like I just didn't have it together for a long time.  My clothing, thank goodness could at least armour and support me for the most part, but as her condition worsened so did my ability to get it together easily.  I felt very humbled by it.  It was difficult, but I am a human being first and then.... all the other things that I have in my life.  I feel as an Image Consultant and coach to clients that it is my commitment to the process and I must also commit to practice.  I am grateful for my clients and their indirect ability to keep me from falling off the wagon too much or too far!

My annual Conference is always a big reminder that if I want to have the staying power that some of my colleagues have, that I never want to go down that lackadaisical road regarding my appearance and behaviour.   In business we have heard that you can never make a first impression twice and that will potentially affect your bottom line, but what matters to me more is that it would mean I lost myself.  That would be harder to recover from... 

This article has been something I wanted to share for a long time and it all started this Summer while on vacation at my cottage, with a coffee in hand, always a must!  If you have enjoyed my thoughts and would like to delve more into this wonderful world of your Image, please see my personal services for a view or to book a consultation.