Moore Style - Celeste Moore Image: Behind the Scenes

Episode Date: April 1, 2022

I am an image consultant and a dating coach for successful men in their 40s-60s. My clients have different careers and all are prosperous, but they need help with their image and with their confidence so that they can successfully date. I'm here to create the best version of themselves so that they can strive for healthy and realistic relationships.   On that note, I would love for you all to get a better understanding of who I am and what brought me to be in this profession. Hopefully you will get to know me as I give you a glimpse into my background on my life and my education.    This episode, I talk about: [1:50] The early years  [3:14] My experiences in the working world [7:15] The beginning of my business ideas [9:08] Becoming a single mother [10:10] A fresh start for the business in New York City Thanks for tuning in to today’s episode! Come and hang out with me on Instagram @celestemooreimage and let me know your thoughts on today’s episode, because I always love hearing from you all!

Hi, everyone. I'm your host, Celeste Moore, and you are listening to the Down and Dirty Podcast, aka the Double D's of dating. This is a podcast for navigating the ins and outs of modern midlife dating. Here, we will discuss the challenges that men and women face in today's dating world. Like many industries, this one is forever changing, and I believe this platform will help those who need or want it. Today, it is the best time to take control of your desired outcome, whether it is a marriage, significant other, life partner, or just to gain the confidence in dating once again. Every other week, we will dive in and talk about different viewpoints that seem to be challenges in today's dating arena.

So let's get into today's episode. I am an image consultant and a dating coach for successful men. They range in ages anywhere from their forties into their sixties. My clients have different careers and all are prosperous, but they need help with their image and with their confidence so that they can successfully date. I'm here to create the best version of themselves so that they can strive for healthy and realistic relationships. On that note, I would love my listeners to get a better understanding of who I am and what brought me to be in this profession. Hopefully you will get to know me as I give

you a glimpse into my background on my life and my education. In 1976, I was born in Washington State. My mother was only 15 at the time, and thank God I had the most amazing grandparents who helped raise me. After my mom graduated high school, she went right into the field of nursing. This enabled her to have stability to help raise me and her growing family. In 1988, my family moved to South Florida in the hopes for warmer weather, making more money and overall just a better quality of life. My father had soon followed in her footsteps too as a nurse. So growing up with my family in medicine, I thought that's what I wanted to do. In high school, I worked for a podiatrist and was able to assist in surgery, physical therapy, help cast broken bones

and anything else I was able to learn, I really enjoyed assisting in surgery and felt that I wanted to be a surgeon. Before this, I had had a few jobs, but this one really showed me my ability to care for another's well-being. The relationships I developed between the patients were special, and I knew that I wanted a profession where I could help people in some way. I had graduated high school in 1995 and decided that I wanted to continue to stay in the working world instead of starting college right away. I had started a new job as an apprentice optician and loved working for my boss. This position taught me how to find the right colors and style of frames for an individual's own unique face shape. This was something that came very natural

to me. One other amazing part of this job was the ability to have a say in frames we purchased to have in our store. I was able to use my opinion about what would sell well for our customers. But in 1998, I had decided to move to Las Vegas to be next to my family. Here, I began to work at a high-end eyewear boutique in a casino. This was the perfect job so that I could start college and not have to learn another trade. Here I began my college education as a biology major. After working at the boutique for some time, I wanted to make more money and work less hours. I had started working as a waitress at Outback Steakhouse.

One fact I left out was that I got married in 1997 and divorced in 1998. I tell you this not because it is important other than why I decided to work at another job. Because I was getting divorced at 22, mind you, which was way too young to be married. I needed to make more money to live. Working part-time as a waitress at a family steakhouse was not going to cut it. I knew that no matter what, I was not going to drop out of college because it was truly a non-negotiable for me. I wanted to be in medicine and knew that it was going to take years of schooling.

When my husband and I were married, we would sometimes go have fun at strip clubs on weekends. It only began a few months before the divorce. At one of the clubs, I had met a girl there and we became friends. The first night I met her, I was curious as to how much money she made. She told me that on a bad night, she made $500.

I was like, oh my God, $500 a night. That was the equivalent of $10,000 to me at the time. And I knew my husband would never had allowed me to work there, but it had crossed my mind. I mean, how could it not? It was young, ambitious, and I liked the idea of how much money I could make. Fast forward a few months later, I needed $2,000 so I could move out and have my own place within two days. I was panicked to say the least. I quickly remembered my friend and her job, and she gave me a reference to talk to a manager. I was hired on the spot and can make my own

schedule even better. If I only worked a few days a week, then I could earn enough to live then some, and I would not have to drop out of college. Numero uno. This was it. I then began working as a topless dancer and was a full-time student. In 2000, I moved to LA so I could go to a reputable four-year school. I also decided I would be changing my major so that I could go to law school. I also moved to LA because that is where my boyfriend at the time grew up and wanted to move back. In 2003, I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor's in science in political science. Soon before I graduated, I decided I was not going to go to law school. I was really unsure of my next course in life, so I started working at a title company in

Orange County, California. I really wanted to plant roots down somewhere, and I really loved California, but all of my friends either went off to grad school, moved back home, or just out of Orange County altogether. So then I decided to move back to Vegas in 2005, back to where my family was. And this is when all of my business ideas had started to sprout. Throughout the years, I had always dressed my family and friends for fun and would take them shopping. I remember so clearly one day my mom had said, why don't you do this for a profession? I truly looked shocked and was like, people actually get paid to go shopping because it was so much fun for me.

I mean, I completely light up and I have another personality when I get to go shopping. So I realized then that I wanted to work for myself doing something that I was passionate about. I did not pursue the image consultant part yet. I somehow thought that becoming a matchmaker sounded so much fun. I remember that I wanted to do something that I loved.

So I looked up the Matchmaking Institute in New York and saw that this was a three-day course to train, and then you could become certified. So I left New York certified and was so excited to start this business. I opened my first S-corp and it was called the Celestial Connection. I continued to learn about business in general and matchmaking, but never had any clients in the Celestial Connection. I really felt that I was too young and inexperienced to take this any further. So I did put it on hold for the time being. So then I looked into my other passion of image consulting, and I decided to become certified from the AICI, which is an international organization.

It required me to do an intensive 10-day program in New York. Once I had the hours and the training modules covered, then I could qualify to study for the first entrance exam. I completed all of that, and then I passed the exam. I became an image consultant in 2006. Right after I took the exam, literally the next day, I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. This delayed the start of my business about a year and a half. I then formed My Image Evolution in 2008. I worked so hard to get my business up and running. I have been a single mom from day and I knew that I was going to have quite a few obstacles to overcome to become a successful business owner and a mother. Motherhood has brought me so much joy, but at the time,

it only allowed me to grow my business on a small scale because I really lacked the time it needed to grow. I have always been the sole breadwinner, caretaker, and parent in my daughter's life. I have always found it difficult to balance motherhood and my career. I knew that I needed to make enough money to raise her and be able to put money back into my image business so that it could grow. I then went into survival mode again and went back to working at the strip club part-time. In 2012, I decided that we were going to move across the country to the New York city area. I knew that my options for success were bigger in New York. I had gotten a few clients and things were starting to look up. I began to work more little by little. It definitely was a

struggle to live sometimes still. I was all alone with no family, but I did have some amazing new friends. I was really trying to figure out how my business could grow. I didn't know if I would eventually start a whole new business altogether or continue the image consulting. I knew that I needed to create a new business model for it to be super successful. I then decided to blend image consulting and dating together. This was going to take my business to a whole other level. So in 2021, Celeste Moore Image was born. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. Come and hang out with me on Instagram at Celeste Moore image. Let me know your thoughts on today's episode, because I always love hearing

from you all. You can find all the links and resources in the show notes of the episode on my website, Celeste Moore.com. Okay. That's all for now. I'll see you in the next episode. See you next time, friends. Thank you.