Today we’d like to introduce you to Carla Harris.
Carla, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started the company as an image consulting firm in 1997 under the name HeavenSent Consultants. The services offered through HeavenSent included personal shopping and personal image consulting services for executive women in South Florida. As a person with years of retail management experience and a love for fashion, it was a natural progression from working with retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Cache and other mid-to-high-end stores.
In 1999, after working with clients at the executive level, I created the corporate training division of the company and named it ImageWorks Consulting Firm. ImageWorks really came about because many of my image consulting clients wanted me to create professional image training programs for their staff. From that point, I was doing more training than image consulting and began really promoting what are now our training academies at The People Institute. At the end of 1999, I applied for and was awarded, our first government contract to provide career readiness training to low-income women who were transitioning from government assistance to the workplace. From 2000 to 2007 our company worked with over 6,000 government-assisted recipients.
In 2007, I relocated back to Washington, DC and in 2010, after a brief hiatus, I opened an office there. In the beginning, the Washington, DC office only provided our success career readiness training program where we worked with DC government agencies and non-profit organizations to help get DC residents back to work. After many years the company has evolved to what it is today and in 2018, I rebranded the company as The People Institute because all of what we do is about developing people.
In February 2019, I relocated back to South Florida to move the corporate office here and to open an office here while keeping the satellite office in the Washington, DC region. And of course, be closer to the ocean!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth!?! Not at all! There have been many struggles. As an entrepreneur, life is never easy. Like many small business owners, we have our ups and downs. We have had peaks and valleys and the valleys have been very, very low and the peaks have been very high. When I started the company, I did it because of a love and a passion to help people be the best they can be. Honestly, I did not expect the company to grow as it has. My faith has allowed me to look the challenges in the eye and remain strong. There were times that many tears accompanied those valleys and screams out loud asking – “what do I do now?” I do a lot of work with young adults and many believe that when you own a business, you are automatically ‘raking in the dough’, but of course, that could not be farther from the truth. There are struggles and hard decisions that must be made. I’ve made terrible decisions over the years. In my effort to treat my staff well, I gave large holiday bonuses when the company really could not afford it. I made bad hires and slow fires which is very costly to a small business. I had to learn to understand how to run a business. So yes, it has not been easy, but even with the obstacles and valleys, we celebrate 23 years in January.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The People Institute – what should we know?
The People Institute is a boutique professional development training firm. We teach the ‘essential skills’ needed to be successful in business. Many people refer to them as ‘soft skills,’ but we call them essential skills since without them success with people is hard to achieve.
One of the most exciting things we are known for is our work in the workforce development industry. Our career readiness program was created 19 years ago to assist low- and moderate-income job seekers transitioning from government dependency to gainful, long-term employment. Since 2000, we have worked with over 6,000 candidates in three states – Washington, DC, Florida, and Illinois. Our method to workforce development over the past two decades has been transformed to create a more holistic and humane approach keeping the people we serve at the top of mind. You would think when you refer to ‘human services’ people would not forget the ‘human’ part, but you’d be surprised!
What are you most proud of?
Of course, I am most proud of the work we do with marginalized job seekers, but what makes me prouder is our focus on humanizing human services. At The People Institute, our goal is to change the narrative of workforce development and bridge the gap between non-traditional job seekers and the employer. We don’t refer to it as ‘workforce development’ but professional development since the process for finding employment is the same whether you are seeking a minimum wage job or a six-figure salary. I believe in this so much that in May 2018, I published my first book about the topic – FaithWorks: an Innovative Approach to Workforce Development which can be found on our website – www.isyourimageworking.com.
I am proud that my daughter sees that women can be what they want and even with the struggles, being a successful entrepreneur is attainable and that when you put others first, you always come out ahead.
What sets us apart from others?
We bring training to LIFE! Each of our training academies are lively adaptations of what others teach academically. We teach using acting scenarios, real life situations, humor and by allowing the participants to become one with the training. We have fun while learning. Our training participants tell us that we help them walk through real situations at work and how to deal with them.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Perseverance and FAITH!
I would not be where I am without either of these. My faith is critical to my success because I truly believe that God’s hand has been the guiding force with every aspect of the business – even the setbacks. There have been MANY tears, many times I wanted to give up, many times I looked at my life and said, ‘why are you doing this?’ I have great mentors and friends who have encouraged me, allowed me to cry on their shoulders, but most of they have pulled my coattail when needed.
Developing relationships have also been critical to success. Having friends who have been there – some since the beginning – has allowed me to bounce off ideas, get introductions to clients, and to simply be sounding boards for new ideas. In business, relationships are crucial and especially in a business that teaches others how to get along well with others!
Pricing:
Our pricing structure, like our training academies, is not cookie-cutter. We customize each proposal based on the specific goals and needs of our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.isyourimageworking.com
- Phone: 754-218-5288
- Email: carla.harris@isyourimageworking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepeopleinstitute/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepeopleinstitute
- Other: www.linkedin.com/carlaharris
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