Small Business Stories - Sandy Dumont Video

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Small Business Stories - Sandy Dumont

Ivy Hartman: Welcomed to Phoenix Arizona. sbtv.com is on the road covering the NAWBO 2008 conference. I'm Ivy Hartman and with me is Sandy Dumont of the Image Architect. Did I say that right? Sandy Dumont: You did Ivy. Ivy Hartman: The colorful cards threw me off. Talk about Image Architect, how you got your name and what you do. Sandy Dumont: My clients gave me the name because unlike a lot of other image people I can tell you technically why I should have you make any change. I do research on everything I do. It’s not like “oh that’s you darling” I don’t do that at all. Ivy Hartman: So it’s a branding and image consulting firm that you have and when we call it an architect you're talking about the science of why, the reason behind why you're changing someone’s branding or their image. Personally when you're talking to small business owners, what are some of their common mistakes as small business owners when it comes to their brand or image? Sandy Dumont: I'm glad you ask that question because women don’t dress powerful enough. Men are taller they have deep voice and those broad shoulders to carry the weight of the corporate worries or whatever. So women need to wear more substantial fabrics, maybe even not give up shoulder pads because are like soft, filmy things. I like pastel colors and they need to level the plain field. So they need to have substantial accessories and colors, the darker the color the higher the authority so darker color. Ivy Hartman: But you need to have that marriage of fashion and femininity as well as business and image because you're doing work with women and men or am I incorrect? Sandy Dumont: Yes. I love working with women and that is what I'm doing that perfect marriage. We have the power, we can mold these hats. They can do all kinds of things but we betray our capabilities by our soft appearance. So what I want is the softness of our natural line. Our line is like this there is hard and angular so that soft line is enough that we need. Ivy Hartman: I like where you're going with this. Being in the media there are a lot of different looks. For news and anchoring there is a business look and suite. But then there is also this interesting line because I host other media outlets where it’s more of a conversational talk show kind of thing so it’s more useful. So it’s hard for me because I'm more of a classic look but I don’t necessarily love suites. So when you're branding or doing an image for someone like myself in the media who probably has to convey herself in different way, how can I marry the two or do you have any advice for me anyhow in either way. You don’t know me very well but you tell me what you think. Sandy Dumont: You have a great hairdo that’s for women let themselves down because you'll say data technology if your hairdo is from 10 years ago. You’ve got accessories. You have great skin. This is where we look at you all the time so the rest just needs to harmonize. The only thing I would say is suites are great. You said you don’t like them you don’t have too. You can wear just little nothing jackets and wear a black pair of pants with a little nothing jacket it goes with it. In fact the less classy the better and then you're just comfortable with a blouse or t-shirt. Ivy Hartman: I'm noticing a lot of women here because of the setting we’re into a little more casual. We’re wearing some summery dresses things like that do you think it’s the setting and where we are, we’re comfortable with all these other women. You look lovely in your suite and the suite does flatter women very well especially if you accessorize it. Sandy Dumont: The suite does. It covers every single flaw a woman has and sometimes for the same price as a t-shirt or a blouse you can have that much more credibility and much more substance because blouses just like a man in a polo shirt looks like this, in another shirt, cotton shirt with that built in affiliate you looks like ready to go. And we need the same thing, we need to have that substance because we’re judged to already “honey would you go get the coffee for us” if we are dress the way a lot of women instinctively dress. Ivy Hartman: Let’s talk about how noble has change that role for us as well as the image of women also. Sandy Dumont: Oh wow I am just flabbergasted of what they’ve done all the laws that they have enacted. Now I think NAWBO’s turn is to educate our members that they can't let their brand down for one second. They can't say “It’s so comfortable here in Arizona. It’s so hot I'm just going to wear those old me chiffony things” so that’s bluff and we can't do it. We should just give it up and that’s what men have never done. Traditionally they wear dark colors, substantial styles and that they never let their image down. Well they do off site and then they look like fun. Ivy Hartman: I also feel like maybe it’s because we have so many options. Men have slacks and polo shirts or button down shirts or they’ve got their suites or uniform if that’s what they wear for work. So it seems like because we have so many options as fashion goes that we go and toy with the idea maybe I don’t need this suite in order to have that powerful role in the corporate America. Sandy Dumont: It’s tempting but we should put our options to good use because they can't wear a red suite, a violet suite like Obama’s wife which was dynamite on her. The cherry red they can't wear that. The only thing they can hope to do is bow and tie. But where we must not let our image down is the substance of our fabric and the cut and the style and then we can just go to town on bow colors and not pastel washed up color. Then you have to make-up for it like you have. How many women have perfect hair, wear braid accessories have beautiful face like you do and then if they do one little thing wrong it just rules away the substance, the power their immediate credibility. Ivy Hartman: Well you’ve got plenty of credibility in just the image that you portray Sandy. So thank you for being here with us. If you like more information you can go to the imagearchitect.com or you can email Sandy at the imagearchitect.com in Oracle Virginia but I know that she’d be willing to help you out no matter where they are in the country. Is that right Sandy? Sandy Dumont: I travel all over the country. Ivy Hartman: You may have found yourself a new client in San Louis. Keep it right here as we continue our exclusive coverage of NAWBO 2008 in Phoenix Arizona.

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Ivy Hartman: Welcomed to Phoenix Arizona. sbtv.com is on the road covering the NAWBO 2008 conference. I'm Ivy Hartman and with me is Sandy Dumont of the Image Architect. Did I say that right?

Sandy Dumont: You did Ivy.

Ivy Hartman: The colorful cards threw me off. Talk about Image Architect, how you got your name and what you do.

Sandy Dumont: My clients gave me the name because unlike a lot of other image people I can tell you technically why I should have you make any change. I do research on everything I do. It’s not like “oh that’s you darling” I don’t do that at all.

Ivy Hartman: So it’s a branding and image consulting firm that you have and when we call it an architect you're talking about the science of why, the reason behind why you're changing someone’s branding or their image. Personally when you're talking to small business owners, what are some of their common mistakes as small business owners when it comes to their brand or image?

Sandy Dumont: I'm glad you ask that question because women don’t dress powerful enough. Men are taller they have deep voice and those broad shoulders to carry the weight of the corporate worries or whatever.

So women need to wear more substantial fabrics, maybe even not give up shoulder pads because are like soft, filmy things. I like pastel colors and they need to level the plain field. So they need to have substantial accessories and colors, the darker the color the higher the authority so darker color.

Ivy Hartman: But you need to have that marriage of fashion and femininity as well as business and image because you're doing work with women and men or am I incorrect?

Sandy Dumont: Yes. I love working with women and that is what I'm doing that perfect marriage. We have the power, we can mold these hats. They can do all kinds of things but we betray our capabilities by our soft appearance. So what I want is the softness of our natural line. Our line is like this there is hard and angular so that soft line is enough that we need.

Ivy Hartman: I like where you're going with this. Being in the media there are a lot of different looks. For news and anchoring there is a business look and suite. But then there is also this interesting line because I host other media outlets where it’s more of a conversational talk show kind of thing so it’s more useful. So it’s hard for me because I'm more of a classic look but I don’t necessarily love suites.

So when you're branding or doing an image for someone like myself in the media who probably has to convey herself in different way, how can I marry the two or do you have any advice for me anyhow in either way. You don’t know me very well but you tell me what you think.

Sandy Dumont: You have a great hairdo that’s for women let themselves down because you'll say data technology if your hairdo is from 10 years ago. You’ve got accessories. You have great skin. This is where we look at you all the time so the rest just needs to harmonize.

The only thing I would say is suites are great. You said you don’t like them you don’t have too. You can wear just little nothing jackets and wear a black pair of pants with a little nothing jacket it goes with it. In fact the less classy the better and then you're just comfortable with a blouse or t-shirt.

Ivy Hartman: I'm noticing a lot of women here because of the setting we’re into a little more casual. We’re wearing some summery dresses things like that do you think it’s the setting and where we are, we’re comfortable with all these other women. You look lovely in your suite and the suite does flatter women very well especially if you accessorize it.

Sandy Dumont: The suite does. It covers every single flaw a woman has and sometimes for the same price as a t-shirt or a blouse you can have that much more credibility and much more substance because blouses just like a man in a polo shirt looks like this, in another shirt, cotton shirt with that built in affiliate you looks like ready to go. And we need the same thing, we need to have that substance because we’re judged to already “honey would you go get the coffee for us” if we are dress the way a lot of women instinctively dress.

Ivy Hartman: Let’s talk about how noble has change that role for us as well as the image of women also.

Sandy Dumont: Oh wow I am just flabbergasted of what they’ve done all the laws that they have enacted. Now I think NAWBO’s turn is to educate our members that they can't let their brand down for one second. They can't say “It’s so comfortable here in Arizona. It’s so hot I'm just going to wear those old me chiffony things” so that’s bluff and we can't do it. We should just give it up and that’s what men have never done. Traditionally they wear dark colors, substantial styles and that they never let their image down. Well they do off site and then they look like fun.

Ivy Hartman: I also feel like maybe it’s because we have so many options. Men have slacks and polo shirts or button down shirts or they’ve got their suites or uniform if that’s what they wear for work. So it seems like because we have so many options as fashion goes that we go and toy with the idea maybe I don’t need this suite in order to have that powerful role in the corporate America.

Sandy Dumont: It’s tempting but we should put our options to good use because they can't wear a red suite, a violet suite like Obama’s wife which was dynamite on her. The cherry red they can't wear that. The only thing they can hope to do is bow and tie. But where we must not let our image down is the substance of our fabric and the cut and the style and then we can just go to town on bow colors and not pastel washed up color.

Then you have to make-up for it like you have. How many women have perfect hair, wear braid accessories have beautiful face like you do and then if they do one little thing wrong it just rules away the substance, the power their immediate credibility.

Ivy Hartman: Well you’ve got plenty of credibility in just the image that you portray Sandy. So thank you for being here with us. If you like more information you can go to the imagearchitect.com or you can email Sandy at the imagearchitect.com in Oracle Virginia but I know that she’d be willing to help you out no matter where they are in the country. Is that right Sandy?

Sandy Dumont: I travel all over the country.

Ivy Hartman: You may have found yourself a new client in San Louis. Keep it right here as we continue our exclusive coverage of NAWBO 2008 in Phoenix Arizona.

Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services