Pageant Inspiration! - Success comes with determination

As an Image Consultant for almost 10 years and grooming instructor of numerous pageants for the last 4.5years, I have seen many of ladies who try to create opportunities to discover more about themselves and challenge themselves in a whole new level!  It is very inspiring to know the determination some of these ladies have and I think all mummies out there should read about them! 

A close fellow Queen went through a lowest point when her husband met with an accident, 6 years before she joined the pageant, which caused him to be paralysed neck down. She had 2 boys aged 1 and 5 then.  After a lot of encouragement, she picked herself up and won Classic Mrs Asia International Tourism 2012!

There was a mother of 6 who ran her own business, organised charity talks and helped her husband in his business.  She won Mrs Chinatown 2013. 

Pic cr: Christine Kam facebook

Another lady was in her late 50s when she competed.  She sang at charity events, played the drum for performances and was a grandmother!  In 2015, she won the international title Grandma Universe!

A single mother, who lost her husband when she was pregnant, brought her son up singlehandedly.  He is now an obedient son in his 20s.  With her bubbly personality, one could not imagine the amount of hardship she had gone through all these years.  She was recently crowned Classic Mrs Singapore Universe 2016!

Pic cr: Erin Ng facebook



There were also a few great examples of successful weight lost stories when they joined the pageant, often caused by childbirth.  They gained renewed confidence and embraced womanhood once again!

 The list is endless!

I went through the process myself and being in the competition requires focus and determination.  The uniqueness of this pageant lies with not only the physical aspect but also the heart.   The process is not easy but you need to be determined to pull off the whole experience and it will be an enriching one.  I was lucky to be crowned Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012 and representing Singapore to clinch Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012.  Most importantly, it trained my determination and giving it my all to get there.

I admire those contestants who showed that determination! It is indeed Beauty with a Heart, the charity arm of Exclusive Resources Marketing(ERM) Singapore Pte Ltd!


About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 7, 5 and 2 years old, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy and when the children are young.

Part 5 - Memories Captured - The selection process (The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant)

The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant…

Part 5 - Memories captured (The selection process)

Cheeky girl at work

The months leading to the selection process with Ministry of Memories kept me in suspense!  I was due anytime and after the 1 month confinement did I finally fix a date with Celestia,  with my 2 elder girls and baby in toll, to view and select the photos!

There were many interesting & beautiful shots and I wish I can take them all home!  One by one I had to narrow them down.  All the themes look so natural and nice!  It took hours and was a heartbreaking affair!  Celestia attended to me personally and was very patient. She even found ways to keep my girls entertained while I viewed the photos.  I looked at those photos which looked so natural and beautiful!  It’s heartwarming to see my family of 4 posing in ways which welcome the little one.  The excited look, cheeky look and sweet look of the girls were all captured in the photos. 

Celestia gave me the ‘don’t rush and we have got all day’ kind of patience.  She gladly removed some photos and put them back into the folder after I said I may want… then removed and put back again etc.  Even I felt apologetic that I was taking longer than planned.  She showed me how she herself also wanted to capture every beautiful moments of her children and made albums with all the photos and shoots done on them.

So yes, she got involved into my selecting process where we will discuss this photo or that; is this really nicer?; why this photo? Etc.  So thank you Ministry of Memories for being a part of my pregnancy journey by capturing one of the most beautiful shots in my lifetime!

About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 6, 4 and 1 year old, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy.

Part 4 - Memories Captured! The Shoot! (The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant)

The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant…

One of the many photos of my cheeky girl!

Part 4 - Memories captured (The Shoot!)

On one late afternoon in June 2014, I met my trusted makeup artist, May, at the studio.  My makeup, checked.  Natural hairdo, checked.  My 2 girls’ hair, checked.  My 2 girls’ light makeup, checked.  We staggered the timing to save time.  So when the girls did their hair and makeup, I started with test shots and the individual shots.

Celestia will remind me to be ‘in the mood’.  I needed to look nurturing, at peace and contented.  I had done numerous shoots before but to look nurturing? And peace? It was quite challenging!  She will give me opinions that she liked this range than the other etc.  She will make suggestions but it was up to me at the end of the day.  The girls joined me once they were ready.  We had an angel theme, a casual theme and family colour theme!  I must say I was pretty impressed with the patience Celestia displayed with the kids and she had a way to connect with them and yet enjoyed the process.  Halfway, I even showed my impatience to the girls as they were playing while there were wires all around due to the lightings.

Taken using my phone : A pix with my patient
photographer, Celestia!

When it was their turn to take photos, my younger girl made so many funny faces which made my selection process so difficult after that!  Celestia captured all of them and taught me to see the beauty of all those monkey faces.  When my husband joined in the shoot, she knew she had to be quick yet patient as he was not someone who enjoyed such formal photoshoot.  I am thankful she understood that without me explaining.:)

We tried various poses and different ways to take the photos to achieve the effect I wanted.  Though the props were not extensive nor high tech, the whole shoot and its effect were very natural, which was exactly how motherhood  should be portrayed!

Thank you Celestia Faith Chong and Ministry of Memories!




About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 6, 4 and 1 year old, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy.

Part 3 - Memories captured (Preparation) (The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant)

Part 3 - Memories Captured (Preparation)

Though it was my 3^rd baby, it’s as precious as any other pregnancies.  In fact, I was thinking this is my last and I need to capture the sweet memories of how I looked during pregnancy and how the bump looked like when the baby was inside.  There is no better way than to leave it to the professional to capture the mood and best angles!

I attended baby fairs, collected a few studio names, compared their past works and compared the packages!  I also corresponded with a few studios that I had narrowed down and understood how they intended to do the shoot for me.  There were some who took it lightly and say I could save on makeup artist when they saw me.  Another studio was very accommodating where they were open to any theme I like.  Unfortunately, I was quite clueless.

At this point, there was another contender… Ministry of Memories.  It is run by one of my friends in the pageant industry, Celestia Faith Chong.  I couldn’t believe the slender and bubbly lady is actually the boss and main photographer in her company!  Since she did pregnancy shoots too, I thought, why not just find out more.  Celestia took the effort of finding out my likes and dislikes.  She was very patient in corresponding with me on several nights on what idea she had for me.  That was helpful and I started to do more research and added on more ideas of my own.  Gradually, we had put in so much time that I figured she now knows what I’m comfortable and not comfortable with.  We shared photos on the props and clothes we have and I like.  That was more personalized than commercialized.  She introduced ideas but didn’t push them… slowly I was won over.  The rest was history!

I will be sharing the photoshoot of my lifetime in Part 4 of this blog series!

About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 6, 4 and 1 year old, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy.

Part 2- Top Dressing Tips for to-be mummies (The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant)

Part 2 – Top 3 Dressing Tips for to-be mummies

@ 2 months
The blue outer layer
streamline the length
at the front.

All pregnant women (or if you have been pregnant before), wouldn’t you agree that very often you need to spend more than the usual time you take, to decide on what to wear next. 

As an Image Consultant, I always struggled at the beginning of the pregnancy with what to wear that won’t make me look pregnant.  That was the time when you are pregnant but simply look ‘fat’ to the public. Then as the bump became obvious, I had to be careful not to dress myself bigger than what I already was.  For example, my arms were still look acceptable so clothes can be very fitted around the arms or have them exposed.  My hips and thighs had grown exponentially…. So only pants or jeans that looked visually slimming get in my wardrobe and shorts are only for comfort at home.  In my opinion, my thighs are not for the weak heart to see.;p

  

@ 5months
wear a belt
when you can

                 Some important and relevant dressing tips include:

1)  Never end your blouse or skirt at the widest part of your body.  So obviously you cannot end the blouse at your stomach where the bump is.  The same applies if your arms are big and not have any sleeves end there or your hips are broad and never end your blouse there.

@ 7months
ensure that the hemline
of the top do not end
on the tummy and play
with colours!



      2)  Wear fitted clothes when you are big.  I mean fitted, not super tight fitting.  If you wear loose fitting clothes, it will make you look bigger than what you actually is.  The least it should be fitted at some parts of the outfit if not the whole outfit.



      3)  Play with colours!  This, not only give mummy the glow when she wears colour that suit her facial colouring, she will also look more trendy.  You can use colours as a form of dressing technique. For example, vertical column of colours makes you look slimmer, colours forming a V shape neckline or darker colour at the part that needs to look smaller.

I believe these top 3 tips will help any pregnant mum in being less stressful when dressing up!  This should take a load off so that mummies can enjoy the pregnancy journey better!





@ 8months
wear fitted outfits
include showing off
the bump!

About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 6, 4 and 11 months, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy.



The Pregnancy Journey of an Image Consultant : Part 1 ( 6 part series)

Part 1 – Dressing woes

Being pregnant is one of the best things that ever happen to a woman!  You see the little life growing within you, feel the foetus kicking inside you, slowly developing that maternal side of you and experience the changes to your body.  Wait!  As an Image Consultant, that’s where the problem lies.  What should I wear to look good when I am a growing whale!?  I know many say you are most beautiful when pregnant…. Please…. My pregnant friends, not all of us agree especially you are the one getting bigger by the day. Yes, your skin is better and hair looks healthier.  However, as a mother for the 3^rd time, the lack of elasticity has caused me to expand faster than before!

Pic Cr:dhgate.com

Pic Cr:Rakuten Global Market

For one, I am a believer for NOT wearing pregnancy clothes, especially those that need to tie a ribbon behind!  It’s acceptable if the maternity wear DOES NOT look like it’s for pregnant women.  Then when it comes to deportment, pregnant women tend to walk with their legs slightly apart and that looks horrible!  It can be controlled but most of the time, the women are oblivious! 

So how good can you look if we don’t dress appropriately and carry it off?  Let’s face it, the pregnant women won’t look beautiful if she doesn’t put on any makeup, carry herself well or dress appropriately!

About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International). Being a mother of 3 children age 6, 4 and 11 months, she hopes to empower women with the confidence they deserve even through their pregnancy.

Disciplining children is an art!

Pic Cr: www.cyh.com

“I know everything!”

This was what a 10 year old child told me when he stepped into my class more than a year ago. I was taken aback when he claimed he knew EVERYTHING in a rather smirk attitude.  His father who brought him to the class seemed very nice & humble.  The child tried reading his own book during class which of course, I didn’t allow.



Pic Cr: www.heartofwisdom.com

I have come to realize that disciplining children is really an art!  You need to manage their emotions, instill the right values and involve some play with psychology.  You also need to be creative when putting the message across such as play with words or find activities that will instill the value you want to teach.  If you are a parent, you must be recalling what are the words spoken or activities done with your children to send your message across.  I have heard the following advises numerous times:

1)      As parents, we have to set a good example. 

Pic Cr: www.housecleaningbovol.blogspot.com

2)      Parents must discipline the child when they make a mistake as the child’s action reflects his upbringing.

3)      Spare the rod, spoil the child!

The truth is CONSISTENCY!  Talk to the child when you are driving, when watching tv, when you come across an incident in the mall or in the restaurant.  Small actions or questions from the child can lead to a discussion and guiding them onto what is right and what is wrong.  You do not have to wait till a mistake is made before you discipline them!  Young children are at the age where they need to be guided to differentiate what is right and what is wrong.  The fact is, many of them will think that they know a lot of things already!

Start thinking about what kind of child you like yours to grow up to be.  Daily reminders and guidance will have to be based on the values you like to instill in them.  Being well mannered and appreciating others are attributes which will enable the child to make many friends and bring him far in life!

About the Author : Sherrine Teoh is the Principal Image Consultant with Image and You Consultancy.  She runs regular training for corporations and institutions as well as Individual Consultations on Personal Grooming, Dressing and Social Etiquette.  She is also Mrs Singapore Queen of Hope 2012, Mrs Asia International All Nations 2012 and Mrs Photogenic 2012 (Mrs Asia International).