Bridgette Raes

Raes grew up in Hasbrouck Heights tieks review, New Jersey and now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Frank Mazzola. She studied Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York and worked for several years as adesigner with clients including Wal-Mart, Barry Bricken and Talbots. Raes returned to FIT to train as an image consultant and, in September 2002, founded Bridgette Raes Style Group tieks review.

Raes is frequently featured as a fashion consultant in magazines, such as Real Simple, Woman's World and First For Women tieks review, as well as on AOL’s Stylelist.com, MSN and on iVillage. She has been an expert on Glamour Sizing for media outlets including The Boston Globe and Good Morning America. She has also had numerous television appearances on television, including on CNN and The Daily Buzz.

Bridgette Raes really is an inspiring entrepreneur tieks review, and I think this interview teaches valuable lessons. She went through the process of finding what she was meant to be doing with her life, and later opened and developed her business tieks review. She learned the importance of believing in herself, identifying the things she needed help with, getting help and learning how to sell the service she provides tieks review. I hope you enjoy reading and learning more about Bridgette and her business as I did interviewing her.

Background

Bridgette Raes tieks review embarked on a career in fashion design after obtaining her degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology tieks review. Despite the glamorous trappings of her career, from her participation in important events to trips to Europe, Bridgette wasn’t completely satisfied with her work. After a few years in the industry Bridgette realized she wanted more from life, and set out to find a way to combine her love for fashion and style with her interest in making a difference. She found what she was looking for in the field of personal style consultation. She recently went back to FIT to study image consulting, and in September 2002, after ten years as a fashion designer, founded Bridgette Raes Style Group.

The opportunity

Bridgette had learned from her years in fashion design that while most designers realize how challenging it can be for women to get dressed and determine their style  , they don’t do much about it. She no longer could overlook women’s cry for help to figure out their image and style. As Bridgette explains, “Our image and clothes are powerful communicator of who we are, what we want, our goals, how we can achieve them. This is something that shouldn’t be ignored.”

Her ten years of experience, along with subsequent training in image consultation at FIT, gave Bridgette the key to her achievements. Bridgette’s instructors at FIT were fashion industry professionals in the business for over 20 years and successful business owners themselves. By paying attention to what they had to say and at the same time taking in consideration her own personal experiences, Bridgette was able to create her own business concept and mission.

Bridgette Raes Style Group

The current crop of makeover shows featured on the airwaves right now, from series such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Extreme Makeover to the makeover features on The Oprah Winfrey Show, are an indication of the public fascination with and interest in personal image development. During our interview, Bridgette mentioned people’s tendency to regress back to their previous image behavior following those makeovers, since there is no education and no long-term change in a makeover subject’s point of view.

In her own business, Bridgette helps her clients to establish lasting changes in their mindsets through a 5-step program she developed. Her program assesses a wide range of aspects of each client’s life and tastes, from her life and goals to her preferred colors. She helps her clients improve their wardrobe by guiding them through each step of wardrobe selection, from understanding what pieces do or do not work for her client to helping them shop. Bridgette also offers smaller programs as well as workshops. She has a roster of trusted professionals to whom she refer clients who need more help in areas such as makeup application, organization, and personal coaching.

The Business

Bridgette recalls that she was naïve as she first started out on her business; she believed the phone would start ringing without much effort. She knew she had a skill, but didn’t know how to market it. She later hired a business coach, who helped her gain more focus through creating a 5-year plan that includes specific goals of what she hopes to accomplish.

The business coaching, along with a few business classes she took at FIT, helped her to more effectively identify her client base and market her services. It opened her mind and changed her perspective on the business and how she presents herself. Building her business took time, and at first Bridgette continued to work part-time as a freelance designer while marketing and growing Bridgette Raes Style Group. But in May 2003 her business had expanded enough for her to work at it full-time, and today it continues to flourish.