| Phone: | 301/317-6657 | Fax: | 301/317-9697 | Email: | Image101@aol.com |
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First Impressionist Image Builders teaches clients that appearances count. There's a right way to eat your dinner roll and a wrong way to eat your dinner roll, and if you don't want to be cited by the roll police listen to DeNita L. Turner. "You break off a piece and hold only that piece," Turner says, demonstrating. "Then you put butter from your dish on a knife and butter the piece. It's not a two-handed maneuver," Turner adds emphatically, there are no community dishes, and there's no swiping the roll through the butter." Turner won't embarrass you for swiping your roll (as the roll police would), nor will she make an example of your flaccid handshake. But she will be your coach, cheer you on and show you how to change your ways. "It's all about creating a positive image and a positive attitude," says Turner, CEO of Laurel, Md.-based Image Builders. "You speak volumes about who you are based on your presence when you enter a room." Founded by Turner six years ago, Image Builders offers workshops and seminars on etiquette and personal marketability for clients ranging from the NBA to Marriott. Whether it's one of the hottest basketball pros or a corporate executive, Turner says that everyone wants to get the same thing out of Image Builders. "They want to know what they need to do to increase their marketability," she says. "My theory is that you are a brand, and you have to sell yourself." So what does all this have to do with bread and butter? It's all part of the image, as are workplace issues including appropriate skirt length and policies on making personal calls from the office - things people are generally uncomfortable talking about. About three-quarters of Turner's clients are athletes or athletic programs, and she helps them perform as well off the court or the field as they do when they're playing their game. At the NBA Rookie camp, for example, Tuner teaches the young men everything from proper handshake (firm), to how to show respect for your coach (listen) and how to let your family know that you're thinking about them when you're on the road (pick up the phone) "At the end, we do an evaluation, and they say they've never heard some of these things before," Turner says. "Like, to look someone in the eye when you're talking to them." Tome "Satch" Sanders, NBA Vice President of Player Programs who spent 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, says Image Builders is an important part of rookie training. "We try to help them increase their social skill," Sanders says. "The players are geniuses in their game. The problem is that in far too many cases, other parts of their training have been neglected. Image Builders has become awfully important to this program. We know it's helpful in preparing them for the pro level, when they will be entertained and will need to know how to carry on a conversation." Last November, Turner was hired by the Toronto Raptors to help 20-year-old Tracy McGrady with off-court aspects of being a NBA player. Since then Turner has worked closely with him as a personal development coach. McGrady who will play for the Orlando Magic this season, went to the NBA directly fromhigh school. He says Turner has helped him to turn his life around. "She made me believe in myself," McGrady says. "It seems like I was doing okay before, but when we started working together, it seemed like my life did a 360. Having someone that's giving me good advice every day has really helped lead me down the right path." Turner says that people talked about McGrady being "so immature," but, she says, "he's smart enough to get it. He has proven that with a little nudge, anything is possible. This summer, he was one of the most highly recruited free agents of the season." Outside the sports arena, a similar scenario is common. The young founder of a high-tech start-up company finds himself in over his head. He knows his business thoroughly, but what about business etiquette? Or, what about recent college graduates who are trying to figure out the nuances of the corporate world? Turner, a native of Richmond, realized the need for personal enhancement training while she was working at Marriott International, Inc., developing and implementing brand training for the company's international lodging divisions. When she stated thinking about the business concept, she sought advice from top executives at the company, where she worked for 13 years. "I met with Mr. Marriott and he said, 'it's a great idea. I'm an entrepreneur myself.' He was very supportive when I decided to leave," Turner says now. William Tiefel, Vice Chairman of Marriott International and Chairman of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., says he was a mentor to Turner while she was at Marriott. "In that role, you have a dual responsibility. I didn't like to see her leave - selfishly - but I became convinced that she had a real desire to do this." Tiefel says he told Turner the door would always be open if she wanted to come back. "But based on her success now, I don't think that will happen," he adds. Turner started out with athletes as clients, but when Image Builders began its corporate work, she was able to go back to Marriott with her product. Now she holds business etiquette sessions and works with new hires in the company's training program. Other corporate clients include Unisys and Lucent Technologies. In the workshops she gives subjects range from "How to Chit-Chat," to "The First Three Minutes," which includes role-playing and demonstrating the importance of verbal and nonverbal communications in creating a first impression. "The core module is simply why you need to care about your image." Turner says. "That's the basic piece. From there, it's customized to what the client needs." Some clients want to review table settings and telephone manners, others stress office politics. "The corporate opportunities are greater than ever," Turner explains. "As companies continue to merge, people are realizing that one way to distinguish one employee from another is by their professionalism. Who's the better overall employee?" She says "casual" dress is always an issue with clients - not only when to implement it, but what it is. "What's an appropriate way to dress and not have your clothes be a distraction from your message? IT's still a hot issue," says Turner. When the Image Builders concept was born, Turner never planned on giving the workshops herself, because, she says, "I was a sales and marketing person." But now clients ask specifically for her, and although she has a support staff of six, she's realized that her performance at the training sessions is the best marketing tool she has. "My father was a coach - basketball, football, baseball - and he told me years ago that I should do the training myself," says Turner. "He said, no ones more passionate about this than you. That's the image Image Builders should have." What does the future hold for Image Builders? With corporate mergers and startups continuing to flourish, and pro athletes signing bigger contracts that ever, you might say that DeNita L. Turner's growing company is on a roll. |
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