Lapel Bar: From running a family business to opening my own



Think about it, it’s pretty safe to say that we as people have encountered someone that has said the words “I hate my job.” But typically, these same individuals that create these harsh statements rarely find themselves leaving this particular job of theirs until something pushes them over the boiling point. No, this is not an article about how I reached my boiling point. We can save that great story for another date and time. Today is about how I knew I’d become a business owner.

Growing up with parents that were successful business owners themselves, it was difficult to imagine myself following in their footsteps solely because I did not want to take over the family business. The idea did not appeal to me. My parents were owners of multiple dry cleaning locations. Even though the dry cleaning industry turned me off, it also helped to shape my love for fashion. There was something about fashion that was my highlight.

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Photo courtesy of Pharoah Kirk

 

I was always under the impression that life was going to take me somewhere else. But it sure is funny how life can present its greatest opportunities to you when you least expect it. The “aha” moment settled in when I realized that working the corporate 9-5 job was not making me happy. I was that individual coming home after putting in long hours on someone else’s watch. I was that individual coming home and muttering to myself “I hate my job.” The moment presented itself when I sat back in my chair at my office one fine day, and I just casually gazed at those who walked by on the sales floor. At first I wasn’t gazing at them for any particular reason. Then after a brief few seconds, something caught my attention.

What caught my attention was the fact that as I gazed at the different individuals walking, their walk began to tell it all. Especially the men. There was no confidence. There was no swagger. There was no style. As I began to create a pattern over the next few days to actually figure out this problem, it became apparent to me. I was going to show men how to dress, and how to dress for success. I was going to present what was taught to me within the 30 years that my parents had owned a dry cleaners.

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Photo courtesy of Pharoah Kirk

 

What I had learned after all those years growing up in the dry cleaning industry was that fashion was something that I wanted to be around, and it was something that I wanted the world to share with me. And in what better way than to start the movement of opening my own upscale men’s clothing store.

I founded Lapel Bar, an Image Consultancy firm that is here to help you become everything that you could possibly be. Whether you are an individual, a business or an entrepreneur working from home, an image consultant can help you to improve the three main aspects of creating a positive visual impact. These include physical appearance, behavior and communication.