When Marla* enrolled in the “Branding Your Uniqueness” class sponsored by Work Source, a job search and resource center in King County, Washington, she was a shy, quiet, unconfident young woman. Besides caring for her 2-year old baby, she attended classes in hopes of gaining the skills necessary to find a decent-paying job.
Just two weeks later, Marla stood in front of the class, her voice clear and confident as she shared her remarkable personal story.
Marla talked about not having finished high school, of having a baby as a teenager, and the continued threat of an abusive stepfather who was under a restraining order.
Yet, it was the hope in her voice that moved both the other students and instructors as Marla explained how the class was helping her not only learn to interview for a job and get control of her life, but to also maintain the confidence to reach her goals and create stability for herself and her little girl.
Learning through interactive, reality-based training
The power behind Marla’s words was reinforced by that day’s topic: setting goals. For many of the students, this class represents the first time they are using real life examples and interactivity to set realistic career and financial goals.
The “Branding Your Uniqueness” curriculum takes the students’ current day-to-day struggles and uses tools such as role playing, hands-on demonstrations, and group exercises to show how life can be different.
Games such as “are you a saver or spender?” bring the lessons home far more quickly than traditional learning techniques. As that particular exercise progressed, more and more students began verbalizing their goals of buying a house, having enough money to care for their children, or putting some money aside for a rainy day.
The highly interactive and experiential classes also feature role play activities. For example, students participate in group evaluations to help them get a realistic assessment of their image projection. For many students, this is a real eye-opener about first impressions made during a job interview.
“The amazing thing about the class is the incredible confidence boost the students experience,” says Yolanda Glenn, a social worker with Youth Services, King County Work Training Programs, who sat in on the WorkSource training. “It only takes a few small ways to change their outlook and how they approach themselves. And by using interactive training, they learn ways to deal with the real life stuff they face on a daily basis.”
Program focuses on branding oneself to learn customer service skills
Kay Hirai, a successful business owner and the driving force behind “Branding Your Uniqueness” knows the importance of helping people uncover their hidden talents and skills.
After years of providing training in her own award-winning salons as well as to colleges and other salons across the country, Hirai developed the “Branding Your Uniqueness” program. The goal of the program is to help people use their talents and skills with proper guidance, training, and mentoring so they can be integrated into the workplace and help companies succeed. The program is geared for any company or work program with employees or potential employees who need to gain the skills required to be successful in their job.
“It’s all about heightened awareness of where you’re headed, and knowing how to get there in small, incremental steps,” says Hirai. “That means more empowered individuals who proactively close the gap between the employer’s expectations and the job seeker’s naivety about the work world.”
No newcomer to the world of workforce training, Hirai has practiced her Kaizen theory of “learning begins with small, incremental steps” for almost 20 years as owner of Studio 904 hair salons. When Hirai opened her first salon in 1987, she envisioned a work environment that attracted motivated staff willing to learn and work as a team.
Bucking the “tips only” trend, she created one of the state’s first salon programs to offer employees not only on-the-job training, but a steady salary to go with it. Her employee retention and thriving, customer-service oriented salons offer proof that her program works.
“It’s one thing to want a job, but it’s another thing to give people the tools to succeed,” says Hirai. “Branding Your Uniqueness starts by teaching the students that it all starts with changing yourself – in other words, it’s about branding.”
“Branding is everywhere. When you present the idea that success in life is how you brand yourself, the lights truly go on.”
Fast-paced program uses real-life instructors
The fast-paced “Branding Your Uniqueness” program packs an incredible amount of information into 6 modules. Each module is 2.5 hours in length with the entire course taught within a two week period.
Topics covered include Attitude is Everything, Marketing Your Image, Knowing Yourself and Others, Your Communication, Your Goals, and Testing Your Knowledge. On the last day of class, a fun and lively game of “Jeopardy” reinforces all of the concepts the students learned in a very busy couple of weeks.
Each class is taught by several trained Studio 904 employees who personally relate to the target population. They’ve experienced many of the same challenges as the students, and clearly spell out the skills and steps it took to get to this point in their own careers.
As Hirai points out, you must know how to communicate, listen, and project a positive attitude in order to get the job, then maintain it and grow within the company. Those traits need to be apparent in the first interview, and they need to continue as you interact with other employees and customers. How to achieve that is what “Branding Your Uniqueness” is all about.
“Branding oneself is critical in today’s competitive world,” says Hirai. “What people need to realize about branding is that knowing the technical side of your job is only about 20% of what you’ll do. The other 80% of almost any job is about providing customer service. And providing good customer service starts from within oneself.”
* Name has been changed to protect identity.
