NEW BUSINESS TO OFFER COLOR ANALYSIS, STYLE EXPERTISE
Empowered Image Consulting recently opened in downtown Hillsdale to offer professional personalized color and style consultations for clients.
The business is owned and run by Mindy Shoemaker, a certified Christian image consultant. Shoemaker said she built the business around a method of color analysis developed by the company Style by Color, which offers consultations to customers about the colors and styles that look best on them.
According to Shoemaker, who has been a hairdresser for 30 years, she first found color analysis after making an appointment for the service in Jackson, Michigan. She said she began thinking about getting into the business herself, but she was having trouble finding a suitable company to train with.
“I just prayed about it to God,” Shoemaker said. “‘If you really want me to do this, you’re going to have to bring the company to me because I can’t find what I’m looking for.’”
Shoemaker encountered Color By Style, a Christian-based company out of North Carolina started by Shari Braendel in the early 2000s, through Google. After sending the owner an inquiry and talking with her over Zoom, Shoemaker said she knew the company was the right fit for her.
“I wanted some excitement, something different,” Shoemaker said. “I’ve always loved everything that has to do with beauty and fashion, and this just seemed to be a perfect fit for me. It’s all been in God’s plan.”
Shoemaker said she offers both color and style analysis consultations, which include a pre-consultation questionnaire to gauge her clients’ expectations. She said she determines the client’s color codes by finding what matches their skin tone, eye color, and contrast level.
Shoemaker also said she finds their signature colors by matching them with six different colors and teaches them how to pair colors up through their personalized code.
Shoemaker also said the appointment also includes instruction on the client’s best jewelry color, stone color, star style (best contrast), and more.
The appointment lasts an hour and a half, according to Shoemaker, and the client leaves with a virtual color deck, paperwork referencing the appointment, and a card deck on a keychain with his or her 36 best colors, including best animal print, makeup colors, and handbag and shoe colors.
For a style or image analysis, Shoemaker determines the client’s body shape with a system called Bod-X and teaches the client how to dress it.
“I go through shirts and pants and dresses and skirts, necklines, sleeve length, hem link,” Shoemaker said. “We also go through style personality and determine what their style personality is so it’s easier for them to shop and see that these are the styles and design of the clothing that they’re more attracted to.”
Shoemaker said she has had clients send photos to her after the consultation during shopping trips or ask her for help during closet cleanouts.
“Once they get it, it is so interesting, and it’s really neat to see the difference it creates on the face when you put on the right colors,” Shoemaker said.
Publisher of the “Simply Hers” magazine and long-time friend of Shoemaker, Marlanea McGraw, said that her appointment has not only taught her that black, her former go-to color, was not one of her colors, but also has helped her clear her closet and put together an outfit faster.
“The struggle is real every morning figuring out what to wear,” McGraw said. “With Mindy’s program I will not only eliminate this stressor, but know I look great every single day.”
Special education teacher and long-time friend of Shoemaker, Genevieve Hundley, said she loved the difference that Empowered Image Consulting made in her life.
“When you’re sitting there, and you’re really just looking at your face and not the colors, that’s where you really are able to see like ‘Oh gosh, when I wear that color, my dark circles really show or the scars on my face or dark spots are really showing,’” Huntley said. “Once we figured out my colors, then it was like ‘Wow, I really do see the difference wearing certain colors.’ I’ve actually had people stop and compliment me.”
Shoemaker said the business has increased her confidence and deepened her faith, as well as her desire to help others. She said it has been a way for her to share her faith, which she said society has not been very receptive to in recent years.
“I pray about this business and about the women that God sent me every day,” Shoemaker said. “I pray before I have a consultation that God just allows me to help these women and whatever they may need, whether it’s just a color analysis. I really feel like it gives you a closeness to people.”
Shoemaker enjoys bringing positivity through color analysis to each woman.
“When you look good, you feel good,” Shoemaker said. “It’s such a great feeling to be able to help women especially do that. We’re very hard on ourselves. It helps the women see the beauty in themselves again.”
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