President-Elect Obama paid a surprise visit to a famous "hot smokes" (deluxe sausage sandwich) restaurant in Washington, DC.  The visit came as a complete surprise to co-owner Sonya Ali, who remarked, "Do you think I’d look like this if I knew?” she said, referencing her attire. For the complete article, click here

This sort of thing may have happened to you, although not with the President-Elect of the United States. It happened to me in 1980 when I moved to Belgium and took the train to Brussels to get some documents stamped at the US Embassy, since I had just moved there. As my Belgian financee was the  only person I knew in the entire country,  I didn't bother much with my image. No makeup, old jeans, grungy boots, my hair stuffed in an old beret to keep it from getting wet.

As I stepped off the train and ascended the escalator to the ground floor, a model was handing out free samples of perfume at the top of the stairs. As I approached her, she turned her back on me and gave the perfume sample to another woman. I was flabbergasted. Didn't she know I was one of the top models in Washington, DC? At least I was two weeks earlier before moving to Belgium! It was crushing and hurtful to be completely dismissed, and I thought about it all day long. I recognized it was because I looked like a slouch, since as a young model, I had also done "makeup promotions" in department stores. You give samples to everyone - except those that look like they wouldn't buy anything anyway - because they look like a slouch. Rather than keep replaying the incident in my mind, I vowed I wouldn't let this happen to me again.

Ultimately, the way you look and dress announces how you feel about yourself, and you'll be treated accordingly. I didn't like the way I was treated, so I made the decision to not ever let my brand down again. If you're proud of who you are and what you do, shout it to the world by looking like a mover and a shaker - not a slouch.