Why I love giving women the right clothes to get their next job

Volunteering in support of women – How I got started

I have volunteered throughout my life, but my real commitment to volunteering in support of women started when I was a newspaper reporter in the early 1970s.

I covered the very first women’s rights rally on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. I stood in that square and listened to woman after woman talk about how we needed to stand up for ourselves and move forward together in order to gain an equal footing with men in society. That really resonated with me. I signed up immediately to become a member of the National Organization for Women. Eventually I became President of the Cincinnati chapter, and by the mid-70s, I was a national officer of NOW.

When I started my own corporate sales training business in 1996, I knew that I wanted use my new freedom dictate my own schedule to create more balance in my life by giving back more regularly than I had before. Then, in early 1997, I read an article in the New York Times about the founder of Dress for Success and immediately got more information. I learned that Dress for Success is a very a grassroots and direct way to help women who need it. Having spent 16 years of my career in corporate America, I felt I had a lot to share with DFS clients that might be of help. So, in late 1997, I started volunteering at DFS for half a day every week. I love this organization and try to help in every way I can: mentoring clients, training new volunteers, raising funds, and helping to create the Professional Women’s Group. For four hours every Monday morning, I work as a “personal shopper” – dressing our clients and coaching them on their interviewing skills.

Dress for Success has “boutiques” all over the world, and each boutique is very much like any clothing store. Walking into one is like walking into a retail environment. We have racks of clothing organized by size, accessory racks with shoes or purses (depending on our inventory), a suiting area, and dressing rooms. In the New York area, clients are referred to us by 150 social service agencies. When the client arrives, we sit and talk for a few minutes about the place where she’ll be interviewing, the position she wants, and the client’s personal clothing preferences. Then I help her put together an outfit. Afterwards, we might review her resume together and do a mock interview.

The relationship between a DFS personal shopper and her client is a very short one – sometimes only 30 or 60 minutes long. But it can be so powerful. The right clothes and the last-minute review of interviewing skills gives the client so much confidence! My goal is to have each client leave feeling so prepared, so comfortable – as if she has already done the interview and is definitely going to get the job.

What I love most about Dress for Success

There are so many things I enjoy about DFS it is difficult to pick one thing that’s most rewarding. I really enjoy our clients. They come from a variety of backgrounds: new immigrants to this country, older women who still need to work, women who have fallen on hard times for any number of reasons. Most of them are so grateful for the support they get from DFS and energized by their experience there. It is terrifically rewarding to see a client achieve her goals and experience success in her life. I love working with the staff and other volunteers – they are wonderful, giving and supportive people who give of themselves generously day after day. It is quite inspiring to be part of it.

The challenge: Earning trust

The first challenge I face when I greet a client is to very quickly establish rapport and get her to trust me. Many of the women we help have been passed around the system in so many ways – they’re not quite sure what to expect. I need to overcome a certain amount of wariness and skepticism. I think I do that by asking her questions about her preferences, and avoiding questions about where she’s from, her history. I avoid value judgments. A woman can come in and try on a suit that’s way too tight or too short, and fall in love with it. My job is to suggest as diplomatically as possible that it would be great to wear to a party on Saturday night, but that I know from my corporate experience that it is not appropriate for her interview. My job is to educate my client about what’s appropriate, to be helpful without being condescending.One of the toughest parts of volunteering at DFS is convincing clients that they have a chance for a job in this bad economy. Many of our clients have faced very tough lives and don’t always have the highest confidence. Bolstering their self-esteem in the 30-60 minutes I have with them so that they feel they really have a chance is often challenging. I try to help by asking questions: “What makes you nervous about interviewing, or about this interview in particular?” She might say, “This is my fourteenth interview, I feel discouraged.” So I explore a bit more, talk about previous interviews, ask what happened, and what feedback she received from her interviewers. I’ll ask the client what she thinks might be getting in her way, then work through that. I try to give honest but helpful feedback.

What can others do to support Dress for Success?

If you are interested in supporting DFS there are a variety of ways to do it. You can:

• Mentor a client.
• Become a DFS personal shopper.
• Donate gently used, workplace-appropriate clothing and accessories (including shoes, handbags, and jewelry). Besides receiving the initial interview outfit, DFS clients who interview successfully and get the job then return to DFS and are equipped with five days’ worth of appropriate work clothing. So, it’s often a struggle to have enough inventory, especially towards the end of a season. Clothing donations need not be limited to suits; we can also use separates, like slacks, sweaters, blouses, and knit tops.
• Be a speaker at our monthly networking meetings for clients called Professional Women’s Group.
• Become a career coach.
• Train new volunteers.
• If you don’t have time to do any of these, you can always donate money to Dress for Success. We always need money to keep going.