Believe in your possibilities!

Last December 2, 2010, I had the privilege of sharing my hosting skills to a beloved organization that's close to my heart, the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan.  I've been hosting their events for over 5 years now, and every show is always memorable as I meet so many great people who truly have shown their great potential beyond their disabilities. 

The show, "Beyond Limits", was in celebration of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, showcased different performances by special guests and celebrities.

The event, held at the Philam Life Auditorium in Manila, was hosted by myself and DJ Jack Melo.  Special performances include a dance number by Regine Tolentino, a song number by Tippy Dos Santos and a special finale number by Fatima Soriano.



TWH Wheelchair Dancer performing Salsa



One of my personal beliefs is that anything is possible in our lives with faith, hope and love.  Being a part of TWH events continues to solidify my belief, as I witness how people can truly go beyond the limitations they have been born with and excel in what they do.  Whether it's for our image, our careers, our lives or relationship, as long as we believe in our possibilities, we have the potential to make things happen!

More Photos after the break!

18 hours in Davao: Power Dressing, Durian Coffee, Pomelos galore!

Last night, I gave a talk on Power Dressing at the Apo View Hotel, Davao City. The audience were a group of OBGYN doctors, members of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society.  The event was produced by Filipinay, the program promoting different pills like Althea, Daphne, etc.  It was a joyous and exciting event, since the doctors and their guests were dressed in shimmery and glamorous party wear as the event happens to also be their induction of new officers and Christmas Party. 

During the talk, the participants had the chance to discover the different levels of professional clothing, casual wear and evening wear.  Plus a make-up instructional was given towards the end of the session.  Although it was a two-hour talk, they expressed their appreciation for the topic as it has enlightened them on the different dos and donts of corporate dressing.  I look forward to seeing them again when I visit Davao, looking strikingly professional. 

It was a really short trip (a total of 18 hours from MNL-DVO-MNL) but fulfilling.  I had the chance to speak to professional doctors, buy a big box of pomelos plus I had Durian Coffee with a beauty queen friend, Nadia Shami.  It was great seeing Davao again, and I look forward to another Davao trip in 2011!

Photos coming up soon!

Photos from the 2nd Image Forum

Finally, after two weeks of being stuck in my camera, the Image Forum photos have been uploaded! Here is a glimpse of the 2nd Image Forum. See you on the next one, it will be on February 2011! Announcements will be made by January next year.

Above are the participants and organizers of the Image Forum.  Aside from the organizers, Delby, Abby, Dina, Julia and myself, two other AICI members attended the event: Bill Daland and Vicky Abraham.  My sister, Karina Agustin, another image consultant, DLSU professor and JRP instructor, also attended the event.

 After the speakers' presentation, the forum was conducted in which the participants can ask any questions to either myself and Raymond Ciriaco. 

Here I am during my presentation of Expanding your Career as an Image Consultant.

Delby P. Bragais did the opening remarks, along with the brief presentation of AICI while Abbygale Arenas-De Leon emceed the event. Dina H. Loomis and Julia Robillos took part in organizing the event.

More power to the image consulting industry in the Philippines!

What is an image consultant

For the past 9 years, I’ve met so many people from the beauty, fashion and corporate industry here in the Philippines and internationally.  After the initial introduction, they would ask what I do for a living and I’d respond, “I’m an image consultant.”  So far, about 90% of the time, I would be asked “What exactly is an image consultant?”  Still, they’d press on and ask “So, what is it that you do as an image consultant?”  So, here is my version of the answer…

The image consulting industry in the past couple of years has increased in terms of the number of image consultants around.  I remember when I first became a member of the AICI, or the Association of Image Consultants, International, in 2006, there were just 3 of us on the list of Philippine members.   The number started increasing the years after that, and today we have 19 Philippine members.  However, despite this fantastic increase in our numbers, there are still so many Filipinos unaware of what an image consultant does.

An image consultant is a professional expert, coach, teacher, facilitator, resource of improving one’s appearance, behavior and communication. So what exactly do we do as image consultants?  We guide you to improve your image through one-on-one consultations or group sessions.  Here is a general breakdown of what a typical image consultant is able to do.

For appearance, we can work on any aspect of your personal or professional appearance enhancement.  Color Analysis, power dressing, wardrobe development, personal shopping services, make-up and hairstyling training/application are some topics an image consultant can help you improve with. 

Behavior pertains to your interaction, decorum and presentation of yourself.  Topics like visual poise, posture improvement, business and social etiquette, interaction skills are typical ones that image consultants teach.

Communication skills are what image consultants are also able to work on and develop.  There are many clients that always seek a way to improve their communication.  There are some communication experts that teach grammar, articulation and projection for public speaking.  An image consultant can do these as well as help you in developing confident communication skills, conversational skills, effective and professional communication.

So, that’s what an image consultant is.  Their next question normally would be “How much will it be to hire one?”.

That’s going to be another conversation and perhaps another article.

For more information on image consultants, log on to http://www.aici.org/ for the Association of Image Consultants, International.  To find out how to improve your appearance, behavior and communication towards your professional success, log on to www.globalimagemanagement.com or contact me at karen@globalimagemanagement.com.

Thank you for attending the 2nd Image Forum

Yesterday, the 2nd Image Forum was held at the Event Factory of Eastwood Mall.  Guests began arriving at 2pm, and the afternoon proved to be fruitful as the topics discussed were very valuable to building your image consulting or training business.  It was also nice to get to know new people who are either related to the image business or are interested to get in the image industry.  It was also great to encounter old acquaintances during the forum!

Once again, to all those who attended the 2nd image forum, thank you very much!  Thank you also to Raymond Ciriaco, who gave an inspiring message about the value of one's character.  To all the efforts of my fellow organizers, Delby P. Bragais, AICI FLC, Abbygale Arenas-De Leon, Dina H. Loomis and Julia Robillos, more power to us and the future Image Forums!

If you weren't able to attend the Image Forum, don't worry as we aim to do the forum every other month.  Please do attend our next image forum sometime on February.  Keep checking this blogspot (or my facebook account) for the announcement!

I'll be posting photos of the Image Forum this week, so keep posted on this spot!

Come join us for the 2nd Image Forum

A lot of you have asked me: "What exactly is Image Consulting?"  Normally, I give a summarized explanation of the industry of image consulting, yet there are still some who can't exactly visualize what we image consultants do. 

So, to address this very common question that most (if not all) image consultants get (especially here in the Philippines), I'd like to invite you all to the 2nd Image Forum, on Saturday, November 20, 2pm - 5pm at the Event Factory, Eastwood Mall, in Libis, QC.  I will be discussing how to expand one's image consulting career (of course, I will also define what image consulting is), how it can benefit our clients, and what are the different topics that you can expect an image consultant can be an expert in.

Also, we have another speaker, Mr. Raymond Ciriaco, who'll be giving the talk on Building your Brand Inside Out.  The afternoon Image Forum promises to be information-packed, dynamic and enlightening!

So I hope to see you all during the second Image Forum!  Email me at karen@globalimagemanagement.com for more information.

GIM website is up!

The Global Image Management website is now up and running!  Please do check http://www.globalimagemanagement.com/ for information about corporate workshops, personality development, image consulting services.  We do personal consultations, corporate seminars, public seminars and personality development classes. 

We hope to hear from you soon! Feel free to email your comments and inquiries at karen@globalimagemanagement.com.

http://www.globalimagemanagement.com/

Enhance your image now!

Have you always wanted to have the confidence of a celebrity or the powerful presence of a Fortune 500 executive but don't believe you can?  Some people think that these qualities are innate in a few exceptional individuals.  This is not true though, because anything is possible!

Change your negative notions to this positive thought ---  You can achieve confidence and success as long as you believe in it and you are determined for it!

Confidence and a powerful presence are attainable through personality development and image enhancement.  From re-creating your outward appearance, to improving your carriage and manners and increasing your communication skills, your image goals are indeed possible!

Global Image Management offers Personal Image Consulting to those who aim to continue their journey towards image success.  Personal sessions on enhancing the image through appearance, behavior and communication development are all offered.  Email us at karen@globalimagemanagement.com to request for a Personal Assessment Form.

Believe in your possibilities... You CAN be confident, you can HAVE a powerful presence!

Five Great Skin Care Secrets!

Five Great skin care secrets

The skin is such an important part of one’s appearance.  It can affect a person’s confidence, first impression, overall physical looks and sometimes even one’s likability towards others.  So let me share with you some skin care secrets and well known knowledge about how to take care or improve your skin.

1.     To maintain good skin, one needs to follow a certain regimen: cleanse, tone, moisturize and sun protection.  Any products in the market will do, as long as you don’t any allergic reaction to it.  Unless you are blessed with naturally, gorgeous skin, this tip has no other exceptions.

2.       For pimple problems, choose a cleanser for oily skin.  Any facial soap that promises to prevent acne soap would do the job.  Some examples are lemon soap, tea tree soap, or a facial foam wash.  I like using products from Neutrogena or Clinique, which are not very harsh or drying on the skin.

3.       To solve break-outs, use a toner that would help dry up the pimples or infected pores.  Your dermatologist may recommend the use of clindamycin once or twice a day, depending on your usage.  I used to maintain my skin with an erythromycin (from my dermatologist) but after I had a baby, I had a bad skin break-out.  I shifted to using my mom’s clindamycin, and the pimples went away within a week!  I am telling you, this is a really good tip for break-outs.  Now, I’m back to erythromycin (as my toner) and so far, no break-outs!

4.       Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!  In a conversation I once had with a well-known skin and aesthetic doctor, she shared with me that the secret to having younger, looking skin is to moisturize as early as you can.  18 years old is not too early, so get out there and choose your moisturizer.  Even the best face lift can’t beat the effects of years of moisturizing.  So start now!

5.       To exfoliate your skin, I learned from a skin care teacher from Canada that oats plus water plus a little bit of sugar will help smoothen the texture of your skin.  I’ve tried this a few times, it does feel smoother and my skin looks a little lighter even.  I recommend having this done weekly.

These are tips that I have tried, tested and succeeded with when it comes to taking care of my own skin.  Of course, visiting your dermatologist won’t hurt and may even prove to be beneficial (facial, anyone?).  Remember, your skin is part of your professional look.  So start applying these secrets to yourself and share these great tips with your friends too!

Global Image Management Blog is here!

Welcome to Global Image Management's blogspot!  

We hope you enjoy our weekly posts on different image topics and news about Global Image Management.

To give you an overview of the company, our mission is to enhance one’s appearance, behavior and communication through a holistic approach of personality and image development towards achieving personal and professional success.

Please visit our website http://www.globalimagemanagement.com/ to know more about our different image consulting services.

We look forward to hearing from you soon! 

All the best,

--Karen Agustin-Ostrea, AICI FLC