Since 2003, Dress for Success has been an invaluable and reliable resource for job-seeking women in Austin. Mia Johns, Director of Programs, has seen it change and grow through the years. Growing up in Houston with a marketing and communication background, Mia realized she immensely enjoyed her freelance opportunities with nonprofits more than in other roles. “I wanted to focus on nonprofit work and use all the skills I have to help a great cause. Marketing is so intangible sometimes, it’s hard to see the results,” says Mia. “Being here is such an immediate gratification because you can see the women being helped and just how grateful they are when they leave.”
Dress for Success’s primary goal is to empower and inspire women to feel confident in themselves, especially economically. It is free and accessible to all women job searching who need extra help going through the process. “The women are all different, all ages, all backgrounds. The one thing they do have in common is that they hit a bump in the road. There are so many different challenges or barriers: homelessness, an ill family member, domestic violence, mental health, and affordable housing. The two biggest things for our clients are affordable housing and some emotional or mental issue. In many situations, they can’t get affordable help for that.”
The nonprofit has seen steady growth in clients, volunteers, and services over the past 15 years. Competing for funding with over 5000 other nonprofits in the Austin area has made them laser-focused on what makes their career development program different from others. “We help women, so that is a nice niche, but I think what distinguishes us from other nonprofits that help with career development is that we are more of a holistic service. We help with the professional image in so many different ways, and then once clients become employed, we continue helping them retain employment. We also help them become economically independent through our financial education, and clients can keep coming back to us as much as they want,” says Mia.
They retain most of their clients through referrals from agencies like Caritas of Austin, The Safe Alliance, Salvation Army, Goodwill, Workforce Solutions, and others. One of their new objectives is to reach women who don’t necessarily qualify to be referred by these organizations but still need help. Under the guidance of the new executive director Lisa Starr, they are working on a marketing strategy to attract these specific women. Another ambitious goal they hope to reach is to change the employee pay rate statistic that most of their clients fall within, which is very important to Mia. “We still have 74% of our clients making less than $15 per hour. And studies are showing that you need $20 per hour in Austin to sustain yourself. Maybe if you go in at $15 and a company offers you health benefits and some upward mobility, you can get to that $20. But so many clients are not going in at that level and can’t live like that. So my goal is to figure out what we can do with our programming to elevate the types of jobs they are getting.”
As a worldwide organization, women in various countries can benefit from Dress for Success’s services, even if she moves to a new location. “We are a worldwide organization. There are 165 in 30 different countries, so there is a good chance she can find another location to welcome her if she moves. After women come here and see how comfortable they are, they want to return. And I’m not sure they’re able to gain that comfortable environment elsewhere.” Currently, there are five offices in Texas: one in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Permian Basin. This comfortable environment cultivated and created the 13 ambassadors who initially walked through their doors for help. These successful women have worked for at least one year, taken advantage of all the different learning opportunities, mentored new members, and are leaders within the Professional Women’s Group program. They also learn how to tell their unique stories and feel confidently prepared to talk to the community about the generous support they received through the nonprofit.
Mia believes that the Financial Education program is the most impactful of all the programs offered. The 4-6 week class can leave women feeling more powerful and optimistic while teaching them to embrace their economic autonomy. “Many times when clients come in, they feel hopeless. When they leave, most of them are hopeful, and that just makes all the difference, “says Mia. Dress for Success not only offers financial resources, interview coaching, and a network of support. They also help women feel confident with their appearance. Their well-run boutique is filled with sorted donated clothes appropriate for the business and business casual workplace. They have everything from apparel to accessories to shoes and handbags to prepare any woman for an interview physically. After finding employment, clients can even return for more garments and accessories to help continuously project a professional image in their new position.
Along with the foundations, grants, and businesses in town that support Dress for Success Austin, they also have an amazing 300 volunteer staff that serve as the organization’s backbone. “We are so lucky to have so many different people in the community who want to help us. A portion of those are coming in to help in the office, but so many others are mentoring clients offsite. We have life coaches, speakers who come in, and different women’s groups who will perform donation drives or have clients at their place of business for interview practice. It’s just a huge, huge volunteer workforce. And they’re the ones who do the one-on-one work with the clients. So we obviously could not do it without the volunteers.”
Mia spends most of her day conducting client and volunteer outreach, collaborating with staff, training new volunteers, and planning programs. She also values the importance of hearing new ideas on current programs to improve further. “We do have some guidelines from our worldwide organization on programming, but every group is different, right? Women in London are going to be different than here. So now we have a planning meeting each year where we welcome input from the members on what type of programming they want to see and what they feel like they need. We take that to heart and try to find speakers who will inspire them. Because as they evolve, the programming becomes different and more advanced over the years.” As Mia and I discuss more about her time here, she lights up with fulfillment. It is clear she wouldn’t want to be employed anywhere else.
2022 Update:
Reaching out to Mia for an update played out exactly as I hoped. She was just as gracious as I remembered and excited to share the changes that have transpired over the years. Serving as the new executive director, she oversaw many challenges and developments that Dress for Success Austin endured. Surprisingly getting through the pandemic wasn’t as difficult as she thought it would be. It only motivated the team to transfer all their services online, which they planned to do anyway. Accomplishing this allowed Mia to quickly recognize that some programs, particularly mentoring, worked exceptionally well in this new format. “It’s been nice because it doesn’t matter what part of Austin our clients are in anymore. They can still participate and receive the help they need,” Mia realized. Now with online curriculums, clients are entirely ready for a job search after six weeks. Their success rate has improved, with 85% of job seekers finding work within 90 days. And even though their clothing boutique is underutilized since more professionals are working from home, they were able to set up a system similar to other online clothing subscriptions to dispense their current inventory. Now clients can quickly fill out a form indicating their wardrobe preferences, and volunteers eagerly create personalized packages, available to be delivered or picked up at their convenience.
Transferring most operations online has also allowed Dress for Success Austin to measure results effectively. Along with clothing services, the nonprofit has resumed makeup tutorials and still provides headshots for LinkedIn profiles. Still, their financial education courses, in partnership with Capital One, continue to be one of their most important programs.
The Austin affiliate has also gained significantly younger volunteers due to the new flexible work schedule that various employers now offer due to the pandemic. “Minus all that travel time, it really makes it a more flexible position for everyone involved. It’s brought in many types of new volunteers,” Mia says happily. So, a new website, a new office location, and a younger demographic supporting and mentoring women are the ingredients of an exciting time for Dress for Success Austin. The mechanics of a meaningful and successful new chapter are already in place. And I look forward to seeing where it goes.