BUSINESS REPORT OF THE MONTH: APRIL

WYNN IMAGE MAKERS, LLC

A “Multifaceted” Business Enterprise

By Marjorie J. Hurst

 

Exactly what type of business is Wynn Image Makers? 

 

Select one of the following answers.

A)   It is a cosmetics/spa business.

B)   It is a teen leadership training business.

C)   It is a people skills training business.

D)   It is an entrepreneurship business.

E)   It is a water filtration business.

F)   It is a nutritional products business.

G)   All of the above.

       If you selected “all of the above,” you are right.  Wynn Image Makers, so I learned, is truly a “multifaceted” business run by two women with clear vision, an abundance of drive, no shortage of ideas and sheer guts!  They believe strongly in all of their products, are able to market them effectively and, as a result, have received remarkable buy-in from the local community.  How they got started and how they have stayed in business is a testimony to that early American pioneer spirit that is now heralded as entrepreneurial skill.  

       The beginning for Wynn Image Makers came in June of 2002 when two friends, Loretta F. Wynn and Pat Woods, teamed up to go into business for themselves.  The original concept for the business was Pat’s.  Both women had worked in the business world for many years and recognized that there was a definite need for “people skills” training for corporations that had customer service components to their businesses.  With the belief that they could provide this type of training, in February of 2003, they located their fledgling business in the business incubator at the Scibelli Enterprise Center located across from Springfield Technical Community College. 

       When Pat left the business in early 2005 and Melanie Bleau came on board, the adult training focus evolved to include working with young people, a natural expansion considering that Melanie had recently resigned from a 10-year teaching career with the Springfield public schools.  Loretta’s 22 years in sales and 10 years in human resources blended well with Melanie’s business/accounting and education background.

       The two women set about combining their strengths to offer workshops for both adults and young people since they determined that the same type of leadership skills they were offering for adults readily translated into the skills that are needed by young adults.  According to Loretta, “It’s just the delivery that’s different.”

       What they offer to organizations, which include school districts, colleges, municipalities, youth organizations, businesses, churches—you name it—are workshops for adults in diversity awareness, communications, etiquette, professional presence, positive work/life habits, diplomacy challenge, parent-teacher conferences, first impressions, personal accountability, setting and attaining goals, winning attitudes and management/leadership skills.  The women meet with representatives of the organization to gain a clear picture of what they want to accomplish and then together they select the specific components that fit their needs in order to customize the workshop.

       The youth component focuses on helping teens make good choices and getting them to understand that “teen choices have adult consequences.”  According to Loretta and Melanie, their goal is to develop teen leaders.  By using Success Circles, they help the teens to focus on the things that matter most to them and on what they have the power to influence or change. “The goal of the program is to prepare the teens to take full responsibility for their choices.  The training involves connecting the intelligence in their minds with the passion in their hearts to yield a positive chance in life outcomes.”

       Helping teens who are interested develop and/or strengthen their entrepreneurial skills is also a major part of the teen leadership program.  The women help the students take the skills they are good in and show them how to develop them into a business.  The youth get sales training, learn how to approach clients and provide good customer service.  These skills, according to Loretta and Melanie, also translate into how they interact in school. 

       So now we know how B. (teen leadership training business), C. (people skills training business), and D. (entrepreneurship business) fit into Wynn Image Makers but what about A. (cosmetics/spa business), E. (water filtration business) and F. (nutritional products business)?

       Even though they really do all relate and are, in fact, complimentary to the main focus of the business, Loretta is very honest in admitting that it took them a little while to get the teen choices and leadership skills training part of the business up and running and “they needed to find a way to generate some income while they waited for the business to take off.”  As a result, they developed gift sets using the spa products and cosmetics and did trade shows and now that both sides have started to take off, it’s like they have two businesses with sub-divisions.  The cosmetics and spa products are also used as part of a stress relief segment in the leadership skills workshop and the teens make and sell the gift sets as part of their entrepreneurial training.

       As for the nutritional products and water filtration systems that they also market, these items fit in naturally with their overall commitment to healthy lifestyles and use of products that help promote good health.  Both Loretta and Melanie have personal stories and testify very convincingly to the benefits that the use of their products have had for them and for family members.

       So the answer really is “G.” All of the above. 

       Both women say they would be remiss if they didn't especially thank the community for their positive response, along with Deborah King, director of the Business Incubator, and Aimee Griffin Munnings, Executive Director of the New England Black Chamber of Commerce, as well as Norma Baker of N.E.S. who gave them their first opportunity to work with a youth group.  Most importantly, however, they wish to thank their husbands without whose support they would not have been able to stay in business.

       And their advice to others is that “you can take an idea and it can explode but you have to have that staying power because it doesn’t come easily and it doesn’t come quickly.”  Amen! n