Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Try to imagine a job where you in-line skate with famous hockeyplayers, shoot hoops with Kobe Bryant, and then make sure they lookjust right for an advertising shoot. Thirty-one-year-old CindyWhitehead does just that--and gets paid, too (seriously). Nowattempt to contain your extreme jealousy.
A sports enthusiast since childhood (she was a champion vertskateboarder in her teens), Whitehead attained the confidence andingenuity to meld her love of extreme sports with her career as theworld's leading sports stylist. Snowboarding, skiing or surfingher way to shoots, Whitehead contributes her styling and researchskills to help develop accurate and intriguing sports images formajor clients such as Nike, Adidas and Gatorade.
While working as a fashion stylist and location scout forSwimwear Illustrated after dropping out of UCLA's filmdepartment, Whitehead met a well-known sports photographer andoffered to help style the models and athletes for his shoots."I started realizing `This is what I want todo,' " she recalls. "The sports business wasreally booming, so I just started sending out promo cards and builtup my clientele from there."
Styling means more than just applying fake sweat and dirt tomodels. Whitehead keeps in mind the details the core audience wouldnotice--for example, sprinters wearing spikes (not regularrunning shoes), or the fact that there are no tape-style finishlines for hurdlers. "I want everything to be technicallycorrect," she says.
Promoting herself as a self-made industry expert, Whiteheadresearches projects to the fullest extent, tracking down the mosttechnically correct apparel and equipment; incorporating the latestaccessories, fashions and colors; and arranging the most photogeniclocations for each shoot. The attention to detail has paid off:1999 sales hit $200,000.
In addition to regularly tuning in to ESPN for the latest sportscoverage, she researches meticulously by networking and attendingsporting events. "I feel that by the time the shoot rollsaround, I'd better be pretty darn knowledgeable about thesubject," says Whitehead, who works from her Hermosa Beach,California, home. "So I might not start out being the mostknowledgeable about street luge, but within a day and a half,I'm immersed in it."
In Excess
Have you ever wondered where those cute, little SesameStreet print bandages you used to see in drugstores disappearedto? Well, one possibility is that the manufacturer's licenseexpired and the merchandise had to be shipped back to a warehousewhere it sits and rots. Or perhaps a close-out distributor boughtthe product from the manufacturer, re-packaged it and sold itthemselves. Behold the magic of liquidating.
The liquidation industry has suffered from aless-than-spectacular reputation, thanks to some unsavory operatorswho take advantage of desperate manufacturers in order to achievemaximum profit. Realizing the liquidation business could be morelucrative if conducted more professionally, former attorney MichaelBrooks decided to start his own business dealing withmanufacturers' excess inventories.
In 1994, Brooks used $100,000 in savings to create InternationalPurchase Systems (IPS) Inc. Working from a friend's office andstoring initial inventory in a friend's mother's basement,Brooks cold-called manufacturers and visited trade shows,explaining his goal: to become a trustworthy close-out distributor.By adhering to clients' resale restrictions, paying on time andhandling all types of inventory--the good, the bad and theugly--Brooks focused on gaining trust and building relationshipsfor his Elmsford, New York, company.
Today, his honest ways have earned Brooks, 34, a long list ofFortune 500 clients, such as Duracell and Day Runner. And with $6million-plus in sales and seven warehouses nationwide, IPS can moveanything, from toilet seats to breath mints--even a warehouse of'70s wooden light-switch plates. (Don't ask.)
Contact Sources
International Purchase Systems Inc., (914)345-0200, fax:(914)347-3600.
Cindy Whitehead, (310)379-2112
