1. DECEMBER 2015
$2.50 VALUE
P E O P L E • P L A C E S • E V E N T S F O O D • F U N
MM
XVXX Best Of
Northwest
Arkansas
2015

2. 40 | CITISCAPES • DECEMBER 2015
NONPROFIT SP OTLIGHT | BY ADDI SIM MONS | PHOTOS BY R AYMOND H. ETHEREDGE JR. AND LINDA RICHARDS
t’s common knowledge that first
opinions are formed in mere seconds.
For those who are economically
challenged and are unable to afford
the clothing needed to present themselves
professionally, landing their dream job is
less likely, regardless of potential.
Dress for Success Northwest Arkansas
is hoping to help change that by providing
women with the professional attire to make
it past the first interview and beyond as they
attempt to become part of the workforce and
turn their lives around. The local nonprofit is
helping to give women a chance to land their
dream job and provide for their families.
Dress for Success NWA’s marketing
committee lead, Simona Rabsatt Butler,
said the women come to the organization
through referral partners such as job
placement organizations, abuse centers
or other nonprofits. Once connected
with Dress for Success NWA, the women
schedule appointments with an image
consultant at The Boutique, located in Frisco
Station Mall in Rogers. From there, they are
completely taken care of as the consultants
get to know their style preferences and
the type of job they are interviewing for.
They then begin the transformation process
to professionally dressed women ready to
take on the working world.
Not only does Dress for Success NWA
style the women personally and help identify
what looks best on them, they also offer
to review their resumes and set up mock
interviews to ensure that they are prepared
and have the necessary skills to obtain the
job they desire.
“It’s interesting because when they
come in they are shy sometimes, and not
necessarily self-aware or self-assured of
what they want,” Rabsatt Butler said. “But,
as they try on the clothes, and our image
consultants offer encouragement, they come
out of the dressing room and they may like
what they have on or not, but as soon as they
click with an outfit that they do like, their
demeanor, their character, everything about
them changes.”
Dress for Success NWA is an affiliate
of the worldwide Dress for Success
organization that empowers women
wanting to gain economic independence.
Jane Behrends, co-founder of Dress for
Success NWA, first heard of the nonprofit
when her company did a suit drive, which
is one way for businesses to get involved by
donating clothing to the nonprofit.
When Behrends first moved to Northwest
Arkansas in 2012, she was shocked to find
that 40 percent of the kids at her daughter’s
elementary school had free or reduced-cost
lunches.
“I couldn’t understand that the economy
was that bad here,” Behrends said. “You
see the wealth here in Crystal Bridges, in
downtown Bentonville and yet, there was
such a large number of kids with reduced-
cost or free lunches. I was completely
unaware of that.”
Behrends said she decided to do a bit
of research, and she discovered that the
poverty rate in Northwest Arkansas hovered
around 20 percent. She also found that for
women, the poverty rate was higher, at 25
percent.
“I thought, ‘How do I get involved?’
Not only how do I get involved and make a
difference, but also how do I stop the cycle?
Because women are so incredibly important
to the household, if we could stop it at the
front-end then maybe the poverty wouldn’t
be as bad,” Behrends said.
Her first thought was back to when the
company she worked for did a suit drive
with Dress for Success. After calling the
organization, she was dismayed to find that
the nonprofit was not yet in Arkansas, so
Behrends took on the challenge to change
that. The Northwest Arkansas boutique
SUITING UP FOR CHANGE
AREA NONPROFIT HELPS WOMEN “DRESS FOR SUCCESS”
2015 DFS Masquerade Party: Tangel Clinard (affiliate client),
Carmen Bauza, Naiema Frieson (board of directors member),
Jane Behrends (co-founder, board of directors member), Michelle
Gloeckler (honorary hostess), Virginia Germann (executive
director) and Stephanie Reibling (board of directors member)
I
The Boutique, located in
Rogers’ Frisco Station Mall

3. WWW.CITISCAPES.COM | 41
opened its doors a year later, in August 2013.
Dress for Success focuses primarily on
women, because the organization believes
that through women it can make the most
change and do the most good in communities.
“There’sastatisticthatsaysifawomanwas
to gain economic independence, the ripple
effect is six other people,” Behrends said.
“On average, a woman has three children, so
she’s very often the center of the household.
The impact that we’re making goes beyond
her. It impacts her children, her family, her
household and her spouse. So yes, while on
the surface we serve women, the impact that
we’re making goes far beyond that.”
Behrends said it’s important for women
to feel confident in order to do well during
the interview process, and the entire Dress
for Success experience allows women to feel
worthy of attention and confidence.
“I think most women will tell you they
feel significantly more confident coming out
of it than going in,” Behrends said. “It’s a
very high-end experience. That’s deliberate,
because we want them to feel dignified and
know that they are worth it.”
There’s a cycle of empowering change
happening at Dress for Success NWA, and
for those who would like to volunteer, suit
drives for individual companies can be set
up through the Northwest Arkansas affiliate,
or donations can be made at The Boutique in
the Frisco Station Mall in Rogers.
“We are looking for help,” Rabsatt Butler
said. “If and when you have the time to
support, we are open. There isn’t a role that
we don’t need.” ■
For more information, visit
northwestarkansas.dressforsuccess.org
or, to get involved, call The Boutique at
(479) 276-3433 to contact executive
director Virginia Germann.
2015 Power Walk in
Frisco Station Mall
All smiles after the first
Power Walk fundraiser event