Sheri K. Cole Story By: Tamala Edwards Sheri Cole fell in love with her first suit at 24. Her graduate days had come to an end and all she had to wear to her big interview were jeans. So she walked into Macy’s and found it: a brown, collarless suit with black flecks. “It was one of the first pieces of designer clothing I’d ever had,” Sheri laughs. “I just remember holding myself straighter and standing differently.” She also remembers that she paid with her new Macy’s charge card, a financial tool often out of reach of low-income women. “We’re trying to level the playing field here, to give them the opportunity to get their foot in the door. And people need to understand that these women want to take that opportunity, they don’t want to be at home, relying on someone else for food and rent,” says Sheri, the Executive Director of The Career Wardrobe. Sheri considers The Career Wardrobe’s suits modern day body armor, something to protect her clients from the first impressions and snap decisions of the workplace battlefield. “The job market is so tough. You can’t give an employer a reason to say no,” she says. “If you are dressed correctly you at least make it through the initial screening process. And not being dressed correctly means not getting to that second part of the opportunity.” Women sometimes have to be coaxed into picking out clothes that, at first, make them think of Grandma, church Sunday, or a hated uniform. But then the transformation begins: they find a color and cut they like, discover a flattering fit, and pull together an outfit. And Sheri’s best advice is that hard as it may be, women have to accept some conformity in their personalities too. “You do have to play the game. Sometimes who we are in private time is not who the employer needs you to be.” The Career Wardrobe also helps women to understand what it means to fit into the business culture. “It is not just about learning phones and computers,” Sheri urges, “but about fitting into that culture to be successful.” As great as her clients feel, Sheri often thinks she is getting the better end of the deal. “Every day I get to see about 10 women leave here with smiles on their faces. It fills my heart and makes me want to come in early.” But she says it’s what happens after the woman leaves her office that is the highlight of her efforts. “The best thing is a woman’s first paycheck,” smiles Sheri. “What we’ve done pales in comparison to her going home and showing her kids, ‘See what I did today?’” Photographed By: Jeffrey Holder, Jeffrey Holder Photography |
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