Adele Hamilton and Marlene White
Adele Hamilton and Marlene White are trained personal stylists and run Integro Image Consultants together.
Getting Started
Marlene and Adele have known each other since they were 17 and, when looking at flexible options for returning to work which would also allow them to juggle a career with family, decided to retrain as image consultants. They worked separately for a while, then joined forces when Adele moved back to Scotland 13 years ago.
They have built their business mainly through personal recommendation. They say: “We often find that a client will recommend her friend, daughter, mum or sister, so word of mouth and social media have been vital for us.”
When they first started, Marlene and Adele admit that they tried to reach and cover everybody. As they developed the business and found their niche though, they have focused primarily on a core client base, which is typically women over 30.
“Seeing the impact which working with an image consultant can have on women’s lives is incredible,” they say. “Some of our clients are transformed from when we first met them, they’re far more confident and doing things with their lives that they didn’t have the self esteem to do before. The impact goes way beyond clothes!”
Support
Adele and Marlene say they’ve had a lot of help from other women in business, who provide them with inspiration and energy. They also mention how they’ve had fantastic support from GrowBiz, through training, advice and support to move our business digital in the past few weeks.
This support has helped Marlene and Adele grasp digital opportunities which they had tentatively considered or tried previously, but have now become the keyway for them to reach existing and new clients. They add, “We have a private VIP group on social media and do digital sessions such as Tune in Tuesday and Wardrobe Detox challenges, from which we have had fabulous client interaction and feedback.”
Looking to the future
Adele and Marlene would like to grow their business by having more online clients, which means capitalising on digital opportunities. They would also like to expand their self-employed team who are focused on selling the French brand of clothes Captain Tortue, as well as delivering more training programmes for people who want to become image consultants themselves. And they add, “we simply want to inspire more women to feel good about themselves!”
When asked what advice Marlene and Adele would give to anyone wanting to start their own business they say: “Do something you feel passionate about. When you love what you do, it carries you through all the ups and downs of running your own business.”
Find out more at www.integroimage.co.uk