My journey as an Image Consultant and Soft Skills trainer

In a nutshell, life has had quite some turns for me. Born and brought up in Mumbai and now settled in Ahmedabad, I initially went on to study banking and insurance. But as they say, your heart and passion will lead you to the right career path, and thus I started my journey of becoming a certified Image Consultant back in 2016.

The knack in me for becoming an Image Consultant and soft skills trainer stemmed from my love for travelling around and discerning people’s behaviour. It’s startling how personalities can speak louder than words, and create an impression for a lifetime. Fascinated by the same, I identified the need to encourage people to tap into bigger and better opportunities, just by enhancing the way they present themselves.

Image consulting as a profession cannot be generalised to its clients. As one myself, I believe that it is highly personality-specific. But like they say, every profession requires you to add your personal touch to what you do and that is when you fall in love with your work. I do so by meeting my clients where they are in their journey and helping them scale up their style from there instead of making them restart all over again.

Over the years, I have had clients from all walks of life. But ideally, I believe that the age group of late teenagers (19-20) require Image consultancy and soft skills training the most, regardless of which field they step foot into. It helps create a very strong foundation for their life ahead, whether it’s for the corporate world or higher studies.

A very interesting quote that I recently came across while surfing the internet was –  “When you die, you don’t realise that you’re dead.” For people who might find Image grooming needless, an easy way to make them understand its importance is along the same lines-  when people don’t have the right etiquette embedded in them, they don’t realise it, but the people around them do. Because that person is unaware of the bad impressions he/she is imprinting on others.

The most rewarding part of this profession is seeing a massive difference in my clients post the sessions! Giving them a new perspective on life and noticing them incorporate these changes in their everyday whereabouts has always been worthwhile. One such session was the etiquette session I conducted for children, post which I got messages and testimonials from their parents telling me how their kids were teaching them the learnings they gathered with me! That feeling of adding value to people’s lives has always been fulfilling for me.

During the course of my career, I have come across innumerable people who confuse image consultancy with styling. A stylist is like a chef who will serve you a well-plated, well-garnished meal, ready for you to consume for a particular time or opportunity. Whereas, image consultancy is like going to a culinary school and learning how to present that well-garnished meal. It is more like a lifestyle choice that you make, that helps you look and feel good every single day.

In a nutshell, I have always believed in the power of dressing consciously and being a trendsetter. Therefore, the one advice I would like to give everyone is to never follow trends just for the sake of it. Always add a personal touch to it, and have your own distinct style speak for yourself. Doing that boosts your self-esteem, improves your confidence and makes you walk like the world is your ramp!