Outside of Sasha, Mi-Young was my best friend, which made work even more fun than it normally was (and I never did anything I didn’t think was fun, especially not for a living).
In other words, at receiving The Hand, I stopped speaking.
“You can’t get away from that, Chloe. And if more people knew you ran this program—”
“We’d get more applicants,” I pointed out.
“We’d get more clothes to give to more applicants. We’d get more volunteers to help more applicants. Department stores and designers would be falling all over themselves to support what we’re doing.”
Left unsaid, If Imogen Swan endorsed it.
Further left unsaid, By becoming the face of it.
“We’re far from the only ones who offer makeover services to women who don’t have the means to put their best foot forward, clothing-wise, while trying to get a leg up in life,” I told her something she knew.
“We’re the only ones with an extensive interview process and internship opportunities, so we can write them meaningful recommendations letters. And we are absolutely the only ones that don’t only offer them an interview outfit and a new hairstyle but give them the full lineup of cosmetics and facial care they need and a solid starter wardrobe so they don’t have to spend the money to invest in one when they get the job. That’s a head start for any woman. Corporate or office jobs have a wardrobe they expect in such a way they should pay for it because it’s essentially a uniform. Because it is, it isn’t an expenditure they’d normally make. And if you’re spending money on clothes, you aren’t spending it on other things you need to do to achieve what all our ladies want to do when they come to us. Getting ahead in life.”
She didn’t have to explain my own program to me.
She did it to drive home her point, so I didn’t call her on it.
I drawled, “I’m not sure we’re the only ones who do that.”
“One of the few,” she retorted. “Coco, this program has the potential to be a true non-profit. We could get 501(c)(3) status. Be tax-exempt. We could apply for grants. Fundraise. Hire staff.”
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the door to my office, which led to a tiny hall, which led through our stock rooms and eventually fed into my boutique.
Which was fabulous.
This boutique was where she and I worked. Mi-Young as my store manager, me as owner and buyer. We had four other staff, a full-time and two part-time sales associates, a website/newsletter/social media person, and interns worked with me and the rest of the staff to get skills and experience to pump up their resumes.
But here, at this tiny conference table, was where she and I ran my true love.
A small, tidy program that I seeded with some of my trust fund money and kept funded by allocating five percent of my profits to it. Along with requesting customers to round up their purchases, all that extra going into the program. Last, receiving additional funds (though they weren’t much, they were still steady) through a donation option on website sales.
We referred to it as Triple F.
Fabulous Foot Forward, a program where we did just what Mi said. We accepted applications from women who wanted to move on, and move up, but life circumstances made it difficult for them to afford the trappings of what would make HR managers across the country sit up and take notice.
We didn’t only offer makeovers, clothes, cosmetics and experience working with us at the store doing everything from sales to online customer service and website design to marketing, inventory and buying.
We had a group of volunteers who helped our candidates write their resumes and taught them interview tactics and follow-up.
Triple F was my brainchild.
My baby.
My pride and joy.
Mine.
And as such, even if Mi was very right, we’d be able to do so much more if I used my familial connections to do it.
I just couldn’t.
Because our previous applicants might have eventually found out I was Imogen and Tom’s daughter, but in one part of my life, this most important one, I wanted to be just me.
Chloe Pierce.
Fashion-forward small business owner and feminist who put time, effort and money into helping her sisters build a better life for themselves.
After jerking her thumb to the door, she said, “Everyone out there is with you on this, we all love it, we want it to grow. But already, it’s a lot.”
We had the means to pick a single applicant every quarter. Four women a year. I did the wardrobe stylist stuff. We had hair stylists who did free hair and makeup artists who gave free makeup tutorials. And I had ins with people so we could get some products and clothes for free or at cost.
But just going through the applications every quarter took us days. And it wasn’t easy, because everyone was worthy. It took an emotional toll to turn people down or ask them to re-apply the next cycle. A toll that wasn’t completely wiped clean with the good work we were able to do for a couple of fabulous ladies.