www.dressforsuccess.org CHARITY REGISTRATION NO. 1080609
The Style File Dress for Success London
July 2011 Issue 1
INSIDE THIS ISSUE... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Letter from the Chair Meet the Board: Jo Hunter Review: Butterfly Boutique Feature: The Breakfast Club Training update Y.E.S! London update DFS Abroad: Wellington Spotlight on Success Interview with a businesswoman: Carol O’Connor
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Referral agency perspective DFS Worldwide Power Walk Special thanks / About DFSL
THE TEAM Juliet Hughes-Hallett Chair of Trustees Joanna Hunter Treasurer Sherri Snelson Company Secretary Susan Denmead Founder Donna Miller Trustee Lexie Sims Trustee Caroline Hamblett Trustee Delyth Evans Executive Director Louise Mann Office Manager Pauline Murphy Transitions Programme Manager Victoria Mullin-Gorelik Stock Manager
Charlotte Clarke Style File Editor & YES Chair Caroline Taylor Style File Art Director
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
ABOVE: L to R: Jennifer Saunders, Betty Jackson & Juliet Hughes-Hallett at a Dress for Success shoppping evening at Harvey Nichols in 2009
This year has been a busy one so far. The Dress for Success London team has gained three new members and Jennifer Saunders has come on board.
meetings in the evening to support the women who have succeeded in securing their job, providing advice and career development support as well as a chance to network.
With both Jennifer and Betty Jackson as patrons, fate has truly smiled on our charity. Jennifer has always been a supporter of ours. Now it is official. Caroline Hamblett has joined the Board of trustees and has already proved herself to be a very valuable addition to the Board. And we have recruited the amazing Louise Mann as office manager. Her previous employer was very reluctant to let her go. We now understand why.
Furthermore, Fiona and Saskia from Evans, the shop with the fabulous plus size clothes, came to the DFSL offices and a dream partnership was born. Since then, a wonderful stream of clothes has arrived every four months and scores of women have walked out of our dressing room and into a job dressed by Evans. These clothes are understandably loved by our dressing volunteers as well as our clients. For me personally, since I started as a dressing volunteer four years ago, Evans clothes have been the unobtainable gold standard. I couldn’t be happier.
“With both Jennifer (Saunders) and Betty Jackson as patrons, fate has truly smiled on our charity” We have run two very successful client support programmes. The Breakfast Club, created in conjunction with the legal firm White & Case, ran for 12 sessions at White & Case’s extremely chic city offices. All sessions focused on helping, advising and encouraging our clients who failed to get employment first time around. The Professional Women’s Group, launched last November, has been holding monthly
With so much support, our interview training in conjunction with a dressing appointment goes from strength to strength. It’s the best package in town to help a woman get a job.
Have a wonderful summer.,
Juliet
Name: Jo Hunter Board Position: Treasurer
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MEET THE BOARD
Occupation: My current positions are treasurer / finance director for two charities: Dress for Success London and the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children. I qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers where I worked for several years giving me a wide range of business experience.
How long have you been a trustee? 4.5 years What made you join the Board of Dress for Success? I met a friend for coffee who arrived with two Tesco bags of DFSL receipts and asked me to prepare a set of accounts – once I visited the office I was hooked from thereon. I am grateful to Kathy for introducing me. What skills do you bring to the Board? Some might say my love of spreadsheets, but I like to think it is my financial and business skills. What do you enjoy most about being a trustee? I never tire of seeing the magic in action when I go to the office. Watching clients arrive and seeing their lives being transformed in the space of an hour is truly amazing. No two days are ever the same. What do you do in your spare time? My two sons have introduced me to sport. I would never have dreamed I would end up being passionate about football, going to every Arsenal home game, and following Formula One. We try to go to one a year. I love live music and go to Glastonbury. I visit the theatre as I often as I can; my most recent favourite was
Frankenstein at the National. Where do you buy your clothes? I shop at KJ’s Laundry, Question Air, DVF, Zara and LK Bennet for shoes. But I am not a keen shopper, so I try to do as much online as possible. Do you have a favourite clothes designer? I think Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Director at Burberry is so impressive. I was fortunate enough to hear him talk when DFSL ran a programme with the Burberry Foundation. He was inspirational, talking about his journey from being the son of a carpenter to transforming the fortunes of Burberry through hard work, skill and determination. Favourite book / film / music? Book – Anna Karenina Films – Shawshank Redemption, I found it inspirational, life-affirming and uplifting - about friendship, patience, hope, survival, determination, emancipation and Working Girl for something frivolous! Music – Eclectic: Beetles, Blur, Beethoven, Plan B If you could take five things with you to a desert island, what would they be? I would be useless on a desert island as I would miss my family, friends
and DFSL too much! • Hairdryer, preferably with my hairdresser attached. • Eyeliner • Puppy, my husband is not keen on me having one in London. • Box set of Mad Men, preferably with Don Draper attached. • Piano. I would love to learn how to play again, I played a lot when I was young. Plus, of course, solar panels to make all the electricity required for the above to work.
REVIEW: BUTTERFLY BOUTIQUE Need a quick makeover? Then pop into Butterfly Boutique. This lovely hair & makeup boutique now open in Bank and St Pauls, helps working women transform from everyday ordinariness to chic elegance. As well as a fine selection of treatments, the boutique has a discreet changing space, phone chargers, newspapers, herbal teas and essential handbag supplies. They also host free workshops on the first Tuesday of every month. The topic for July is: Summer Glow – advice on how to get healthy, radiant skin. Dress for Success London is grateful to Butterfly Boutique for their support. For more details visit their website: www.butterfly-london.com
The Breakfast Club launches By Nadia Al Yafai Community Affairs Coordinator, White & Case When White & Case partnered with Dress for Success London this year, as one of our two major nominated charities, we were keen to make an impact. In March 2011, the Breakfast Club was launched. It was an innovative initiative, designed and delivered by staff volunteers at our London office, over a series of 12 workshops. Focusing on improving the employability and confidence of DFSL clients and raising their aspirations, the work-
shops went beyond employability schemes and tackled workplace issues such as managing relationships, networking and goal-setting. There was also a ‘How to dress’ show! “White & Case are thrilled with the Breakfast Club, which has been a huge success here; enabling 29 women to transform their job search,” says Felicity Kirk, director of pro bono at the law firm. There were almost 50 volunteers in total, split almost evenly between our legal and non-legal teams; including business services, secretaries and contract staff and our internal survey
HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH DRESS FOR SUCCESS We are funded through private donations and your support makes a real difference! Donations enable Dress for Success London to sustain our services and to grow. Below are a few ways you can get involved with Dress for Success London •Make a financial donation via www.justgiving.com/dressforsuccesslondon
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demonstrated that not only had they enjoyed the experience, they had benefited personally from increased interaction with colleagues across different departments and disciplines. Indeed, an employee at White & Case, noticed a confidence boost in one of the members of her team who found she was capable of speaking in public. And she herself was motivated by the two women she spoke with: “I came back to my desk feeling really inspired by (their) ambition and enthusiasm.” The key benefit for the firm has been highlighted by the White & Case training officer: “When I signed up for the Dress for Success project, I thought it would be a good opportunity to help others; without realising the
•Donate clothing and accessories individually or through a suit drive. •Become a volunteer for the dressing or Transitions programmes. www.dressforsuccess.org/london Contact Dress for Success on 020 7288 1770
PICTURES TOP : Some of the Breakfast Club Participants ABOVE: Client workshops at the White & Case London office.
benefits it would have on me and my role. The project provided a valuable opportunity not only for its participants, but for the volunteers, by encouraging initiative taking, networking and the sharing of skills / knowledge such as project management, creativity and consultation. It was great to see how everyone’s confidence improved during the process and to have legal and non-legal staff working as a team and building effective relationships.” The project was covered in the March Big Issue, where one attendee described how inspired she was by the ‘power women’ leading the sessions. Her overriding feeling was: “Wow, I could do that.” White & Case will be running the Breakfast Club with DFSL again this Autumn, as we are keen to help the charity develop a business model for the programme and find other corporate partners to work with, thus ensuring sustainability. “This is a crucial outcome, beyond a oneoff investment and will have a substantial impact with beneficiaries for years to come,” says Ms Kirk.
TRAINING UPDATE
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The Big Lottery Programme Since our newsletter in December 2010, so much has happened with this programme.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
We have had some great sessions with the Professional Women’s Group, which have included make-up tips from the wonderful women at Butterfly Boutique as well as How to Network and Healthy Eating nights.
I absolutely loved the “personal shopping” experience and felt that everyone put me at ease and was extremely helpful. Great, thank you!! The interview volunteers were lovely and really made me feel ready to face my interview. Rhian
In March 2011, we launched the Breakfast Club in conjunction with White & Case law firm. And in June 2011, we started running workshops with Camden secondary schools. These complement the workshops we are still running in Islington schools, which have included Highbury Fields, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Mount Carmel. We now have a career centre up and running at DFSL. We run weekly career sessions which are very beneficial to clients. In particular, the interview practice workshops are proving to be very successful, which we are able to offer due to the support from other companies.
ABOVE: The Professional Women’s group meeting at DFSL
These include Chubb Insurance, SSQ , LexisNexis, The Works and Hasson Associates. Their support enables us to offer interview training straight after a dressing to every client who comes into our office. The corporate training days are also proving to be very successful. I would like to thank Bank of New York Mellon, GE, Allen & Overy and AllianceBernstein who have contributed to these amazing days. We are looking at more programmes and workshops to be running in the future, so watch this space. New members to the PWG are also always welcome!
The Project VIP Programme In June 2011, we ran another successful day with 6 visually impaired clients who came and spent the day with us at DFSL, as part of our
LEFT: Project VIP; building selfesteem
Project VIP programme. We had representatives from Blind in Business, Acumen Solutions and Clifford Chance, discussing CVs, interview practice, motivation and self esteem skills. Butterfly Boutique then spent the afternoon with the ladies giving them make up and beauty tips. A successful day was had by all the clients who left feeling amazing and confident for their upcoming interviews.
By Pauline Murphy Transitions Programme Manager
This session was amazing. I would recommend this organisation to everyone. If there is anything I could do to give back I will be more than willing. My interviewer and dresser were both helpful, friendly, kind and many, many more good words. Angella Most helpful with helping me to dress for success. I really appreciate your kindness. Keep up the good work - Thank you! Irene I really appreciate the help you’ve given me as I was not expecting that level of care. Thank you very much for your help. Rita
Y.E.S! LONDON UPDATE By Charlotte Clarke Chair of Y.E.S! London A cocktail evening, a swap shop, a festival, a power walk and a collaboration with Patchwork Harmony (an online home accessories boutique), in a secret tearoom… These are the kinds of events that have marked the first six months of our non-profit network. It’s been inspirational as well as a lot of fun. When we officially launched in January 2011, we were full of enthusiasm and ideas but we never expected things to evolve so quickly. If I had to choose the most memorable moment so far, it would have to be the evening we held in Soho’s Secret Tearoom. This event captured our network goals perfectly. We had a fundraising raffle, promoting awareness and fundraising for Dress for Success London, we had drinks to ensure a social atmosphere, we had a stall by Patchwork Harmony also raising money for DFSL and then we had guest speakers. Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation and author of Working 5 to 9, gave a talk on creating a business in your spare time, Amy Clark, from We Are Social spoke about using social media in business, Esther Freeman aka ‘Ms Wanda’
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promoted sustainable fashion and Anisa Salem described the power of coaching and mentoring. All four speakers were a big success with women queuing to speak to them afterwards! We now have over 40 members, including an eight-woman strong leadership team; meeting once a month and we have raised over £1,600 for DFSL. We have also planned events for the rest of the year, including several more collaborations. This month, for example, we are collaborating with Rollo Art Gallery and The Fold, (an online clothing boutique) to create an evening of art and fashion, including a silent auction that will raise money for DFSL. Our work with The Fold will then continue into August, when we will hold a clothing drive while they showcase their new collection. Membership is non-exclusive so you are all welcome to join us in this worthwhile experience. Alternatively, there are several other ways you can help us raise funds for DFSL and expand our network, just visit our website for further details: www. yeslondon.org.uk. We value all input and involvement. Hope to see you soon!
LEFT: YES London leadership team members with Susan Denmead , founder of DFSL at our New Year Drinks RIGHT: YES London members at our Feb swap shop fundraiser Soho Secret Tearooms event with Patchwork Harmony
Emma Jones speaking (L), Amy Clark speaking(R)
Raffle prize display (L), Patchwork Harmony’s stall (R)
Happy raffle prize winners!
Would you like to become a Y.E.S! member? Sign up today in 2 easy steps: •Email us for a registration form yes.london@dfslondon.org Go to our Just Giving link & make the £30 annual donation www.justgiving.com/Y.-E-S-London For more details, visit our website: www.yeslondon.org.uk
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DFS ABROAD: DRESS FOR SUCCESS WELLINGTON 84 Willis Street, Community House, Wellington, New Zealand
By Cyndi Christensen Executive Manager Dress for Success Wellington celebrates its ten year anniversary this year. We have seen substantial growth recently, enabling us to offer our services to all women residing in the Lower North Island. We dressed 400 women in 2010, which is double that of 2009 and so far this year, we have dressed 122 women. On average, we do 350 dressings per year, through 70 referral agencies. We service most of the lower part of the North Island of New Zealand, with approximately 60% of our clients either Pacific
Islander or Maori. An analysis of 1382 clients (year ending 30 September 2010), showed more than 40% of our clients are mothers supporting and caring for one to five children. In November 2010, we were granted approval by the worldwide affiliate to launch our Professional Women’s Group. Now, one of our goals for this year is to have a career centre. This will provide a place for our clients to use a computer and printer for writing their CV and communicating with prospective employers. We will also be able to offer advice and assistance in the process of the job search through
Spotlight on success When I first came to Dress For Success I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the staff were really friendly, kind and supportive, and this helped to make me feel relaxed. The help they gave me in choosing an outfit for an interview boosted my confidence, as I felt transformed into another person when I looked at myself
the skills and contacts of Dress for Success Wellington volunteers. While we continually increase those served, we are finding it more difficult to find funding to support our service and programme initiatives. Another goal this year is to organise fundraising and profile-raising events throughout the region. Our goal is to raise $58,000. We currently participate in community days, manage a monthly stall at the Frank Kitts market and have clothes sales, accessory swaps and movie nights. We are also planning our tenth anniversary event to be held in October this year.
A DFSL client describes her experience and the career advice she received from Pauline
wearing the clothes that I finally chose with the help and guidance of the staff. When I first attended the interview training, I expected everyone to be as kind as the staff I’d already met but with the aim to get me into a job as soon as possible. But when I mentioned my interest in drama and video production you
didn’t dismiss it, or tell me to find something more practical, you encouraged me to go after what I really wanted to do in life, this was another added boost to my confidence thanks to Dress For Success. After that meeting I started volunteering at a theatre, attended some video production courses to
refresh my skills, and joined a film making meet up group. I am slowly regaining my confidence in the area of my creativity and it’s thanks to you and the staff at your organisation. I can now envision myself working in a creative environment this time next year. Thanks again for all you’ve done for me so far.
INTERVIEW WITH A BUSINESSWOMAN
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Carol O’Connor Carol O’Connor originally wanted to become a poet and martial artist. Instead, she has ended up launching her own business in consultancy and writing six books on business. One of which: Leadership in a Week, proved so popular it is being released again next spring. How did she make such an interesting leap? “It was so embarrassing,” Carol says with a big laugh, remembering student days spent writing poems that she says were not very good “but I did them anyway.” Her mum made apologies for her: “Oh she’s finding herself, she would say,” while Carol translated medieval poetry, wrote her own contemporary variations and attended lessons in Aikido. Then suddenly, aged 31 Carol decided she “better get her skates on” if she wanted things to happen. Inspired by Professor George Brown, who she describes as being the world authority on gestalt psychology at the time (gestalt meaning ‘wholeness’), she signed up to do a PhD on educational psychology at the University of California and specialised in the breakdown in communication at board
level – how it can happen and how to resolve it. She also used the time to listen and learn from others. “I decided, for the first time in my life, to keep my big mouth shut,” she laughs and it paid off. After graduation, Carol moved to the UK, where she was involved in team development for the first ever international database. “This was 1989-1990, pre-internet” she emphasises; so a huge and exciting project for its time. Then in 1991, Carol launched Vision in Practice Ltd, creating a client list through trips to the library. In some ways, starting her own business was incredibly fun, she says, “making stuff happen out of thin air.” But in other ways, it was very hard, especially being a 40 year old woman, living alone in a foreign country. She set herself a limit of one year. However through hard work – “networking every single day,” it survived beyond that and secured her a book contract with Hodder Headline. Leadership in a Week was published and consequently
translated into 21 foreign languages, including Chinese, French, German, Ukraine, Spanish and Portuguese. Carol is now developing training projects with schools in East Africa as well as moving into the publishing industry. She is also still running her consultancy business, specialising in managing during times of uncertainty and turbulence, behavioural technology to improve communication at work, breakthrough thinking, scenario planning and applying social networking to business growth. Based in London, Carol works with the executive development departments of London School of Economics, Duke Coporate Education and Cass Business School as well as her trusted client list. www.visiprac.com Interview by Charlotte Clarke
Dress for Success the Carol O’Connor Way....
Always wear a jacket; this advice was passed onto me by a very nice woman when I first went back to university and had no idea how to dress!
Avoid dissonance – try to create a single, harmonious impression. I find I trust this image the most.
Know who you are; your strengths and weaknesses
Never do or say anything you can’t live with in ten years. There are no shortcuts, no easy formulas, no easy decisions. It is all about what you believe in – your guiding principles.
REFERRAL AGENCY VIEW By Darren Halls Former employment advisor with TNG Having worked in the welfare-to-work sector for almost three years; assisting the long-term unemployed into work, I can confirm that one of the most commonly used excuses to attending an interview is:”I don’t have interview clothes.” Enter Dress for Success! DFS does exactly what it says on the tin: they
dress you for success. Many women entering the work environment come from difficult situations; abusive backgrounds, prison, alcoholism to name a few and so going into the working arena can be a daunting experience. But from the moment a candidate is referred to DFS, she is looked after. She enters as one person and leaves as another. JJ was one client who
Dress for Success Worldwide Power Walk
On Saturday 7th May 2011, DFSL participated in the Dress for Success Worldwide Power Walk. The London walk, 5km in the beautiful surroundings of Richmond Park was also held in memory of Anna Reilly, our lovely office manager for two years who sadly passed away last October. A big THANK YOU to everyone who took part. We had a wonderful time and it was great to meet some new friends and supporters. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Your donations will help us to carry on the important work of helping other women succeed.
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benefited greatly from this. Unkempt in both personal hygiene as well as dress, JJ had piercings on her face and a street attitude not becoming of a 40 something woman. She was also an alcoholic. After several weekly sessions however, JJ had an interview secured and was referred to DFSL for dressing. The woman that went in to that dressing was not the woman that came out. She was totally dif-
ferent; confident and ready to start on the road to recovery. She is now in work, realising her potential. She is also on an alcohol programme and making an improvement not only in her own life, but also in that of others around her. The story of JJ is one that is repeated day-byday at DFS. The team coaches and supports all candidates, providing the tools that will enable them to empower themselves.
ABOUT DRESS FOR SUCCESS LONDON Dress for Success London promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. We work with a diverse group of homeless shelters, job training programmes, prison groups, educational institutions and domestic violence shelters, as well as partnering with many other corporate organistations. Independent UK registered charity Dress for Success London is a licensee of Dress for Success Worldwide and relies on private support. The worldwide organisation was founded by Nancy Lubin in 1996. For more information, visit our website www.dressforsuccess.org / telephone 0207 288 1770 / email london@dfslondon.org We are pleased to have re-launched our newsletter as The Style File magazine and we will be developing this over the coming year. For queries / contributions please email london@dfslondon.org
Finally, a special thank you to all the individuals, retailers and companies who have donated clothing and accessories this year.