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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: ZOHRA BENA

BY SONIA DUBEY DEWAN, AICI CIP

Winner of AICI Award of Excellence for Membership, Founding President of Spain Central Chapter, and a Business Graduate! In this member spotlight section, I bring you the interview with Zohra Bena to know her journey in the profession of image consulting. She talks about her business, what challenges she faced while establishing her. Throwing light on the image consulting industry in Spain & Europe, she shares her insights about the community. There is much more to Zohra and her triumphant journey, read along to know more.

Q. How did you get started in image consulting?

A. I studied International Business and Management at the Amsterdam School of Business and worked many years in fashion and retail sales and management in Amsterdam, before moving to Madrid 10 years ago. I found myself in a foreign country with zero knowledge of the Spanish language as a new mum of two. I took some time to reflect on my personal and professional interests, while learning the language and enjoying this beautiful country that I am happy to call my home now. I wanted to marry my passion for fashion and aesthetics with my business mind and people coaching skills.

I remember writing an answer to a professional development test of what I saw myself doing: ¨I would like to help busy executive women who don’t have time for shopping but need to have a polished presence with their wardrobe choices¨. This led me to image consulting without knowing that such a thing even existed. To acquire knowledge, I googled styling courses and found it too limiting and very fashion oriented, simply because the word ¨image¨ did not come to my mind. So, I started googling things like “professional success,” “performance,” etc. and stumbled upon the AICI website, where I first saw the term “image consultant.” This was so enlightening and exciting that I stayed there for the rest of the night.

Q. What do you do in your business?

A. I do personal image consulting for individual clients, and workshops for professionals about personal image, branding, and soft skills. At this moment, I am about to launch a Colour & Image Training online for Spanish-speaking image professionals in collaboration with Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute.

Q. What was the biggest challenge you faced in your business and how did you overcome that?

A. I think the biggest challenge I faced was launching my business in 2013, still very insecure about my Spanish language skills and not knowing how to communicate with my audience. I remember expressing my insecurity about public speaking in Spanish to a dear colleague and image consultant, and she reminded me of the charm of being a foreigner and taking the effort to speak in the local language. I took this as valuable advice. I converted my fear to strength by offering two workshops followed by two speaking engagements in front of 300 people and felt very confident. Even though it still feels horrifying right before I go on stage or right before I start

a presentation in front of a group, I know I have overcome that fear.

Q. Are you planning to go for your AICI CIC certification?

A. Frankly, this is a point that I have thought about but never really prioritized, maybe because in Europe we don’t give as much importance to certifications as we should. It is definitely something I am considering and would even like to point out to our members, as I believe it can offer many advantages and opportunities.

Q. What is the image consulting industry like in Spain and other European countries?

A. The image consulting industry is very broad and ranges from beauty professionals and stylists of different specializations to corporate trainers and personal branding professionals. So, in that sense it’s hard to define a trend or a line. However, looking at it in segments, I believe the importance of personal branding is something many people, especially professionals and entrepreneurs, are becoming more aware of. Furthermore, in today’s competitive job market, employers are becoming more demanding and, besides a degree and professional experience, soft skills are also required. Team spirit and flexibility are very sought-after skills in the Netherlands, for instance, and conflict management, stress management, leadership and communication skills are generally in demand everywhere.

Q. You are serving leadership positions in AICI and have also received an Award of Excellence for your work. Tell us about them, and what made you get involved in AICI leadership in the first place?

A. II was one of the founders of the Spanish chapter together with fourteen other AICI members in Spain and have been on the board ever since. I served as the treasurer and later as VP Events. We had a clear vision of collaborations and partnerships with bigger entities related to personal image. We organized two significant image consulting events in Barcelona and Madrid in 2015 and 2016, respectively, with

100+ attendees, which has given us great exposure and expanded our visibility and recognition as an association. This led to various collaborations with the International School of Protocol in Madrid and the OICP, the Organización Internacional de Ceremonial Protocolo, with which we co-organized two international events with over 600 attendees in Valladolid, Spain and in the Dominican Republic in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Now we are partnering with Salon Look, the biggest annual fair of beauty and cosmetics in Madrid, where we hosted our first Personal Image congress last year and will host the second this fall.

Q. The April 2020 edition of AICI Global magazine talks about business development in image consulting practice. What’s your best business advice for other image consultants for the future?

A. I think it is important to know your strengths and communicate this in your offering as image consulting is very broad and contains many things. Also, responding to trends is a smart way to position your offering. Looking at the trends of the workplace, we see that computers are taking over many jobs and the freelance economy is getting a prominent role. Freelancers represent 35 percent of the US workforce and 16 percent of the European workforce. In addition, because of the global workforce, we see diversity and a growing need to get along with and have more understanding of different cultures. So again, people skills are becoming more and more important for the upcoming trends. I think as image consultants we can respond to this and help professionals and freelancers with their personal brand, presence and communication, and relationship-building skills. Again, it does not have to be all of these skills, one should focus on what he or she can do best.

A. My fuel of energy is Pilates, spinning and my family. Furthermore, I never decline an opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend. I also enjoy drawing and reading. I am keen to learn and have many interests: nutrition, fashion, lifestyle, personal development, emotional intelligence, psychology, cultural diversity, and history are topics I read about regularly.

SONIA DUBEY DEWAN, AICI CIP, is an Entrepreneur, Image Consultant, a Keynote Speaker, and the first Internationally Certified Image Professional (CIP) in India chapter by Association of Image Consultants International (AICI), USA.

She is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Indian School of Image Management (indianschoolofimage.com), providing education and training solutions to aspiring Image Consultants in India.

The President of AICI India Chapter is dubbed as a “Fairy Godmother of Transformation” by a leading news publication. Sonia is passionate about sharing her views on Image Management, Personal Branding, Positive Body Image, Entrepreneurship, and Women Empowerment.

She quotes, “You are your most valuable asset, start investing in it today.”

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Source: World Health Organization