Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look at Dorothy Lazovik
Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look
Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants. Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.
Dorothy Lazovik
I was first introduced in 2005 to Dorothy via Vicky Wilson (a former alliance member who has passed). I followed my usual intake process and had a chat on the phone with Dorothy to determine fit. Our conversation flowed beautifully and she piqued my interest as I never actually spoken with anyone about personal branding. I knew organizations spent millions on their brand recognition, but I had never thought about the importance of congruency in how you present yourself.
We scheduled a breakfast meeting for a few weeks later. I was very impressed when I met Dorothy and could more clearly understand what she was talking about when she said how your dress, speak and interact with others communicates a message. Part of my intake process is that I need to experience each of my alliance partners providing their service and Dorothy was no different.
I was going through her process so I could understand first-hand what she did and the impact it can have. The first step was an online assessment, followed by a one-on-one session to review the results of the assessment, create a personal brand for myself, look at my current wardrobe and make up.
There were no surprises in the Prevue assessment as I had done many like it before and it substantiated for me that it was a good assessment tool. The next step is what surprised me. Dorothy explained to me that when she spoke with me on the phone I was very warm, friendly and professional and yet when she met me she was surprised because how I was dressed did not communicate the same message as the person on the phone. I came to our meeting in a black pinstriped suit with a white blouse and too much make up. My hair was short and red at the time. She felt there was a disconnect in who I was and how I was dressing.
After that we explored what image I wanted to portrait. I said I wanted to be known as a fun professional, which for me seemed impossible before meeting Dorothy. I thought you could be one or the other, not both at the same time. I was wrong. We proceeded to have my makeup done; my hairstyle and colour changed and went to shop so she could show me the types of clothes the best fit my body type and my new image. This was somewhat confronting to me because it meant changing everything including not wearing black!
Over the next few months I slowly transformed my wardrobe and my hair colour was returned to its natural colour and was growing. About six months after I had gone through Dorothy’s process I met a former colleague for lunch and the first thing she said was “It’s not like it is a new you, it is more that it is the real you.” For the first time in years I felt totally comfortable with who I am.
Dorothy has continued to work with leaders and employees to help them get in touch with their authentic selves.
Here is Dorothy’s profile:
http://webmarketingnorth.net/athena/alliance-partners/dorothy-lazovik