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Chanel Price
Transforming Self Worth into Net Worth
America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses Inc. Success Story
Meet exemplary leader and America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses model employee Chanel Price. Her rise from employment uncertainty to career stability and continued opportunity is a lesson in perseverance for all. Price overcame surmountable challenges to secure employment with America’s Best and has been riding the conveyor belt to substantial career growth ever since. Hired as an entry-level receptionist in 2003, today as an assistant manager Chanel runs an America’s Best establishment in one of the hottest business districts in downtown Washington, DC. She is well positioned to be promoted for a fourth time in less than 3 years. Her story is compelling.
Business Interface was introduced to Chanel Price in 2003 as a referral from local Davis Memorial Goodwill a Washington, DC training program. As a young 21-year-old mother of a one-year-old daughter with no viable career prospects and little know-how to promote her limited skills, Chanel was at a crossroads of survival. “I wasn’t in a good position,” Chanel revealed to Business Interface. “I could not do as much as I knew I could and needed to for my daughter financially. Emotionally and physically I was there, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to give her 110 percent of my efforts. I needed to find a career not just a job.”
Discovering the Right-Fit Career Opportunity
While Chanel was searching for someone to simply give her a chance, Business Interface was identifying the answer to Chanel’s deepest desire. Business Resource Consultant Robyn Fleming while walking down Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC, during her lunch break noticed a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of America’s Best. She asked to meet with the store manager and began to assess America’s Best’s workforce needs via an in-depth business needs analysis. After thoroughly understanding the business’s employment needs, Robyn began to source service providers for participants who would be interested and could be trained to qualify for the positions.
Robyn Fleming outreached to the David Memorial Goodwill training program, and found an untapped talent in Chanel Price. Upon meeting Chanel, Robyn immediately took notice of Chanel’s greatest strengths and most striking quality: her ability to make those in her presence feel comfortable and appreciated. Robyn quickly recognized that Chanel’s humility coupled with her genuine like for interacting with people would make her a suitable for a customer service related position. Following the Business Interface
practice, Robyn evaluated Chanel’s prospects via an in-depth opportunity analysis during which Chanel’s strengths were identified and weaknesses addressed. Chanel received intensive job readiness training that prepared her for the workplace. Over a course of two and half weeks and under the guidance of Robyn, Chanel was trained on how to prepare for and present herself during an interview. She researched the company and its customer base to gain a thorough understanding of the potential employer’s expectations and work culture. By the time Chanel completed the employment preparation bootcamp, she felt confident that she truly was the best person for the job and had a fuller appreciation for her value as an asset to an organization. That genuine confidence coupled with her noble sense of humility landed Chanel a job offer with America’s Best.
Securing a Long-term Career
Securing the position with America’s Best was a major threshold of triumph for Chanel. However, as with any single mother transitioning from virtual joblessness, there were still more obstacles to overcome. Business Interface provides each of its participants a personal mentor and resource expert through the services of our Retention Specialists. The Retention Specialist is responsible for helping all of our program participants with very limited means and who face a myriad lifestyle challenges (i.e. access to reliable childcare, transportation to work, appropriate attire, financial management etc.) address those challenges before they adversely affect the participant’s job performance. The goal is to help participants of our program retain the position for the long-term so that they can achieve employment stability and therefore, build careers, stabilize their lives and the employer’s workforce. When those who are stable in their careers perform well, employers notice. Good employers not only take notice, they recognize the value of the individual’s exceptional level of commitment and contribution to building the organization. The relationship between Chanel Price and her Business Interface retention specialist, Martin Burks, is a stellar picture of the value of our relentless belief that all people can overcome challenges if given the opportunity.
When Chanel was having difficulty managing her new budget and needed advice on how to manage without interfering with her work schedule, Martin was there. Issues like performing a cost comparison of buying a car for the commute to work versus taking the metro were contemplated. Martin helped Chanel to understand the pros and cons of living below versus at her means when making buying and budgetary decisions. As a new employee, when Chanel was concerned about difficulties she was experiencing communicating with her manager that made her feel uneasy and unwelcomed on the job, Martin helped her to understand how not to allow one workplace encounter influence her perception of an entire organization. Martin helped Chanel to understand the value of making good on her commitment to give her employer, America’s Best, not just the hiring supervisor, her absolute best. Through all of her reservations, Martin helped Chanel persevere. Business Interface did not give up on Chanel and would not allow her to give up on herself or the career opportunity.
Today, Chanel is very pleased she connected well with the both Robyn Fleming (business resource consultant) and Martin Burks (retention specialist) and received and applied his advice. Management soon changed, while Chanel continued to perform with a high level of commitment and stayed on board. Under the direction of new general manager, Rodney Oo, Chanel’s potential is truly being realized. Upon Mr. Oo’s arrival and after breaking a stride as team player for America’s Best, Chanel inquired about what it would take to become a general manager. “In order to move up, I had to prove. I had to work long hours. Volunteer to come in on my days off and prove my dedication. It’s not over. I still have much more to achieve. I want to do what my boss does,” remarks Chanel.
This passion and ambition to do better, coupled with her genuine like for and well management of the customer, impressed America’s Best. Her manager Rodney Oo boasts of his star management employee Chanel as “an exceptional employee who is incredibly smart and simply a great person. I had no other choice but to promote her. I gladly promoted her.”
Today, Chanel Price is the model employee for America’s Best. She is reliable, the kind of assistant manager who comes in to take care of the store as if it was her own home. “My job is like my child,” Chanel intimates. “It requires a lot of nurturing and attention. I give it my all as I do with my daughter.” She is an exceptional customer servant, which is the minimum expectation of all America’s Best employees. She‘s ambitious and follows through on whatever it takes to meet her goals, which has proven to be most beneficial to her employer. After managing the store on her own for a week, her supervisor, Mr. Oo, proudly proclaimed, “she brought in some of the highest sales numbers of the year [in late 2005].” “Chanel is exemplary. Present more employee candidates like her, “ says Mr. Oo.
Bottom-line: Chanel Price is a living manifestation of the American Dream. Those who are economically disadvantaged can rise out of poverty and excel when their talents are recognized, appreciated and utilized to assure their personal growth. “This experience has had a big effect on my life,” a smiling Chanel proclaimed. “If not for Business Interface, I would not have the career I have today. I could cry. I used to think very negative, but that changed to positive when I met Business Interface. Without Business Interface, I just don’t know where I would be. Thank you.”
Business clients like America’s Best truly exemplify how opening one door to America’s economically disadvantaged can lead to a life of self-sufficiency and unlimited career opportunity. However, there are still many untapped talents out there to reach. So many more like Chanel. We thank Chanel for understanding the level of commitment that is required for each one of us to support the personal and financial growth of the less fortunate. Thanks to businesses like America’s Best, we all can be effective in helping anyone reach their dreams.
“When you come up you should never forget those who helped you to get to where you are,” advises Chanel. “There are so many more people out there like me, but they don’t get the chance to receive these opportunities. I am so grateful that someone took notice."
Business Interface
