John Robert Powers on image enhancing

MANILA, Philippines - He’s vice president of a multi-million-peso company — though his image suggests he’s anything but. Dressed in a shirt and slacks ill-fit for his oversized frame, he walks with a stoop, and speaks in a monotone that could put fellow executives to sleep. Clearly, this expat needs more than just a serious makeover. He needs John Robert Powers.

Named after the man who started the modern modeling industry and first Personality Development program in the US, John Robert Powers has since become much more than the training ground for budding models, ingénues, and international personalities. US First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Betty Ford both attended Powers’ schools; Princess Grace of Monaco was a Powers’ graduate; and celebrities like Diana Ross, Raquel Welch, Ann Margaret, Tyrone Power, and Henry Fonda were all Powers students.

At the JRP Manila headquarters in Legaspi Village, Makati, corporate bigwigs (like the expat VP with the major image issues) are as typical a sight as a group of teenagers learning table manners before prom night. Indeed, everyone from politicians to princesses have dropped by the office to sign up for courses that, as the JRP mission declares, “help individuals achieve their maximum potential through confidence building, communication proficiency, and image enhancement.” 

That the courses aren’t limited to debutants, first-time job applicants, or aspiring models and beauty queens means that individuals, regardless of age, financial status, or professional achievement, are never too old or accomplished to improve on themselves. “Our behavior reveals how we were brought up at home,” says Marivic Padilla-Catala, head of JRP Manila and director of JRP international. “Sometimes, however, both parents are working and never around, leaving a child to learn values like personal hygiene or common courtesies from the help or someone else. Or a certain behavior may be okay to your family, but frowned upon in public. Media also plays a big role in influencing our values, so what we pick up on TV, movies, or print, may not always be what’s right.”   

Ultimately, while intelligence or a talent for singing and dancing are attractive and desirable traits, sometimes even these aren’t enough to get ahead in a world that is quick to judge. “The way you project yourself is the way people treat you,” the JRP director reminds. “We teach our students how to make a good and lasting impression in the first 11 seconds.”

Five levels, each one a progression of the last, make up the JRP curriculum. Because the levels emphasize the eight elements of personality development (personal growth, voice communication, social graces, visual poise, wardrobe, figure control, skincare, and hairstyle), courses are often customized according to a student’s specific needs. A barrio lass marrying a foreigner, for instance, might need help with accent neutralization, while wives of men moving up in society or the political arena could use some fine-tuning in fashion, social graces, or conversational skills.

Catala is particularly proud of the government official who enrolled in JRP a few years ago as he prepared to run for higher office. Subjecting himself two hours at a time for a month to a series of courses — from head-to-toe wardrobe tweaking and delivering a speech to the oft-overlooked act of walking — he now carries himself with a look and demeanor befitting his title.

Pro-active workshops contribute to JRP’s impressive success rate — a whopping 90 percent, reports Catala. Students are critiqued on the spot during live classroom demonstrations, and review themselves after watching their videotaped performances.

Of course, true success is only possible when a student is open and willing to change. “Developing new habits is what JRP is all about,” says the JRP director. “For these habits to be properly integrated into one’s system, they have to be constantly practiced. And a student has to want it.”

For inquiries, call JRP Makati at 892-9511, JRP Quezon City at 927-0465, or JRP Alabang at 659-0052, or visit http://www.johnrobertpowers.com.