At Brilliant Read Media, we always strive to bring you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of investors, leaders, coaches, management students and aspiring entrepreneurs. This week we invited Dimple Bhandari for an interview with us. Dimple is a Leader, Entrepreneur, Mentor, Image and Personal Branding Coach, Trainer, and Founder of DB Image Consulting. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, her way forward and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dimple:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur/trainer, please;
I did my schooling from Loreto Convent Intermediate College, Lucknow and further pursued Hotel Management from the Institute of Hotel Management, Jaipur. In my view the hospitality industry allows you to develop – professionally and as a person. It helps you to enhance your body language, people skills and other soft skills which are most needed in a customer-centric industry.
I got campus recruited in Grand Hyatt Mumbai as a Corporate Leadership Trainee, post which I graduated as an Assistant Manager Front Office. The Westin Mumbai Garden City became my second workplace where I worked as a Guest Relations Manager.
I quit my job to pursue a career of mentoring and motivating people by infusing self-care and self-love in them. I did a certification course in Image Management and Soft Skills Training from ICBI, Mumbai.
And, this is how my entrepreneurial journey started. I enhance and transform an individual’s appearance with finesse and grace as per their roles, goals and occasions.”
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
As an entrepreneur, I set my own schedule that helps me maintain a good balance between my work and personal life which was a little difficult with a corporate career.
My work profile is versatile and I get to interact with individuals from different industries and backgrounds every day. Most importantly, being an entrepreneur has given me wings to fulfil my passion for enhancing individuals.”
‘DB Image Consulting’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your startup?
Image Consultancy is all about enhancing personalities. Considering that I am the face of the company, I chose my initials in naming my image consultancy ‘DB Image Consulting’. We personalize our services and curate them as per the need of our clients, this makes us unique in how we offer and put creative solutions together.
As an Image Enhancer, I am determined to empower individuals to reflect a confident, powerful and charismatic personality whilst achieving certain goals. I impart skills in the art and science of image management, emotional well-being & behavioural development, body language & communication skills to women, young adults, professionals from corporates/customer-centric industries, schools/colleges and even fashion brands.
Working closely with these individuals allows me to understand their own personalities and find the key touchpoints to work on in order to enhance what is already within.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
It’s kind of harsh but I feel clients don’t care about your business as they are seeking a solution to their concerns. Be proactive and go that extra to be the one-stop solution your clients are in pursuit of. If you earn their trust, they will talk about you to others and that will be free marketing in itself for your business. Also, another mantra I swear by is that competition is healthy and an entrepreneur should never devalue yourself
~ Be proactive and go that extra mile to facilitate the needs of the clients. Providing good customer service helps in a long-lasting relation.
~ An entrepreneur should never devalue themselves even for the sake of competition. If your work is worth it’s you will always have a business.
~ Be flexible, be innovative, be updated with the latest trends and most importantly believe in yourself.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
Success in leadership is marked not by how well you do, but how well others do under your care. Having said that I believe there are Four fundamental core leadership skills to succeed.
a) Self-awareness – Understand your behaviour’s impact on organizational outcomes.
b) Communication – Effectively communicate goals and inspire trust.
c) Influence – Be comfortable persuading, promoting and delegating.
d) Learning Agility – Know where to change course and help others to do so.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup?
1 – Patience is the key to success. Don’t give up.
2 – Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.
3 – Don’t compare yourself with others you have no idea what their journey is all about.
Please share with us – what has worked well for you so far?
I feel listening skills are most important in building trust, establishing rapport and connecting with your clients. Understanding your customers and paying close attention to their needs can get you better clarity about their goals.
I deeply believe that empathy begins with active listening as sometimes people want nothing but to be heard.”
Also, I swear by feedbacks as they play a major role in the growth of your business and you personally.
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I love what I do. But stress and challenges are inevitable in the path of success.
I take Self -care too seriously, hence I take breaks to travel and do things I love. It helps me unwind & rejuvenate to clear my mind, focus on work and perform better.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
The passion for my work and the positive feedback of my clients keeps me motivated. It is indeed a beautiful feeling to enhance people and see them grow in different roles in life and achieve their goals.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring women entrepreneur?
This is truly the best advice I can give to aspiring women entrepreneurs: believe in your product/idea, have the vision to be successful. Be your own biggest cheerleader! Because when times are tough and it feels like everything is falling apart (it’s not, but it’ll definitely feel that way) you have to be able to bring yourself back into a positive mindset by remembering why you started and why you believe in your product. Both passion and patience are key.
“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!”
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
