To land a job, and even to stay in one, these days it is important to put your best face forward.Personal Reflections is an image consultancy with the aim of encouraging and gilding people to create their desired image.Dee Simmons, the founder of Personal Reflections, said: “As an image consultant my goal is to encourage people to reflect their unique style.” Ms Simmons trained in California and Tennessee, and ran courses in Atlanta where she lived before returning home to Bermuda. She said her business has been on hiatus, but she has now relaunched it again, and so far provided training for several groups including some from church congregations.The mission statement of Personal Reflections is “Unveiling your inner character to reflect your desired image.”And in defining a person’s image, she gives guidance in three categories — the ‘ABC’ of representing yourself — appearance, behaviour and communication.A person’s appearance involves their hair, make-up and clothing. It also includes associated aspects of one’s appearance including closet organisation, shopping and body shaping.Behaviour includes corporate and personal etiquette as well as dining and table manners.Communication includes body language, tone of voice, and communication styles. Ms Simmons includes stress management and emotional intelligence in her training programmes. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, assess and control one’s own emotions, the emotions of others, and of groups and Ms Simmons feels strongly about the role it can play.Together these three categories are “very powerful”, she said. “The effectiveness of it is that it provides guidelines for people in terms of how they appear, their behaviour and their communication.“In the corporate world, this is an unlisted set of rules. If you look at a man, you will see he is wearing a suit and a tie, and a brief case. Someone can be corporate without those things, but it is what you envision — you see these things, and you recognise the image, and so that is the category that person fits into.“We draw conclusions based on what we see — it is human — so we have to obey these unwritten rules.”She illustrated the point graphically for a classroom of students. She explained how she initially arrived dressed in a provocative manner and chewing gum. She left the class room, and returned in her normal, more conservative attire. She then asked the class who they would rather have teaching them. The exercise meant the youngsters were forced to see how the concept of image impacted their assessment of an individual.“I assist people in developing their own unique image by using the three ABC categories.”She offers workshops and seminars, as well as a Closet Transformation Service. “I like to use the clothes already in someone’s closet — I go into the person’s home, and they might have a ton of clothes and have nothing to wear.“You start by learning your body shape and style, and then you utilise what you have, but differently from the way that you have been wearing those clothes. For example, if you want to appear to be businesslike, then there is a protocol for that.”She said: “My dream is to have a school of protocol — an education centre to bridge the gap between being at school and applying for the life a person wants to be a part of.”All Services are available via private consultation, corporate and community groups, for male, female, youth and adults. Ms Simmons is also currently planning a Body Make-over Show for July.For further information contact Ms Simmons at personalreflectionsbda@gmail.com.