MEET MARGARET BATTING: IMAGE CONSULTANT, SHOE LOVER, WORLD TRAVELER

Margaret Batting is the only certified image consultant and personal brand strategist in the state. Before launching her own business full time a year and a half ago — Elevé — she worked for Staples for nearly 16 years, rising to the level of vice president of merchandising process improvement. After her son was born, she decided to look into a career where she could create her own schedule.

Besides her own clients, she works as a consultant with Career Builder, which frequently involves traveling. In June she was invited onto the Rhodes Show for a live segment. Ms. Batting said her business is not all serious; humor and laughter are pieces of the puzzle. Ms. Batting has lived in Barrington since 2000 with her husband, Brian, and their son, Benjamin, 7.

CAREER GENESIS: “I always had a flair for clothing since age 2, and all of my friends came to me for help even when I was working for Staples. When I was in a management role at Staples I saw potential in people and I would want to help them reach that potential.”

CAREER CHANGE: “After I had my son is when I really stated thinking about how I could parlay my experience working with a Fortune 500 company and do my own business. I studied with the top people in the image consulting industry, and then I got certified.”

RHODE SHOW: “We talked about shopping your closet. It was live. I can go into someone’s closet and create new outfits that they wouldn’t have put together themselves.”

INTERVIEW SAVVY: “When you look good, you’re more confident, and when you’re more confident, you can communicate better on the interview. Visual presentation is your appearance and communication skills.”

PERSONAL BRAND: “Say you’re very innovative and very creative. You’re going to want people in the company to know that because you’ll want the opportunity to participate in highly visible projects. It helps you achieve your goals.”

IMAGE IMPACT: “It goes back to that credibility. You could be really good at what you do, but if you don’t look like you look good at what you do, it’s hard for people to get past that. If I was going around in jeans and a T-shirt and I said I was a corporate image consultant, people would say ‘What?’ It’s not consistent.”

OVERCOMING FEAR: “If I hadn’t let go of the fear of having my own business, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I’m doing all the things I really want to be doing and I’m a happier person.”

SHOPPING WITH CLIENTS: “They’ll say, ‘Oh you look great in everything.’ I’ll say, ‘Let me try on something for you’ and they’ll say ‘Oh, yeah, right, that looks awful on you.’ Everybody has their own challenge.”

HUMOR FACTOR: “I like to have fun with my clients, too. I like to infuse some humor and fun into my presentations and workshops because I want it to be interesting. I don’t want them to think it’s a painful process to go through.”

SHOES: “When you walk into a room there’s something you want to communicate. I want to communicate that I’m professional, confident and approachable, and that I’m interesting. I do it (communicate the fun, interesting part) with my shoes — I always wear kind of a unique pair of shoes. I probably have over 50 pair of shoes.”

SPARE TIME: “I like to spend time with friends and family. We go out to dinner. I spend a lot of time with my son. We go miniature golfing. We do treks to the pond. I try to have dinner parties. That’s one of the things I like to do.”

LUNCH WITH ANYONE: “I would have lunch with Donald Trump. I’d really like to talk to someone from a long time ago, like Aristotle or one of those guys who got crucified for their brilliance, because I want to know how they figured this stuff out; they didn’t have all this technology. And I’d like to see why people were so afraid of accepting new ideas. And I might want to have lunch with Jackie O. (Onassis). Actually there’s a lot of people to have lunch with. I’d have a cocktail party and invite all those people I’d want to meet.”

TICKET TO ANYWHERE: “Dubai. It kept coming up when I was traveling. The two people I met this week and the week before were on their way to Dubai. And Bora Bora. I might go to Bora Bora before I go to Dubai; it’s just unbelievably gorgeous.”

TRAVEL TALES: “I’ve been to Russia and Yugoslavia and all through Europe. I’ve gone on safari in Tanzania. It was cool, scary. It was a picture safari. I took photos of everything; lions, zebras, giraffes.”

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