Women in Business: Meet Pamela Jabbour of Total Image Group
By Emma Lennon
Through gruelling hard work, determination, and making 100 cold calls every day, Pamela Jabbour created her first business, Total Image Group, at the age of 21.
Tired of seeing the same unimaginative uniform polo shirts with company logos slapped on, Jabbour harnessed her love of fashion and her business-savvy mind to change the game of the uniform industry.
Here’s how she did it.
GETTING THE FIRST YES AFTER A YEAR OF 100 DAILY COLD CALLS
Jabbour grew up watching her father pursue various entrepreneurial ventures and was inspired by his hard work and ingenuity. She also inherited a love of fashion and style from her mother.
By the time she graduated from university in 2005, she had a crystal-clear vision for her own business – creating uniforms that were stylish, well-fitting, and a fashion-forward extension of the business’ brand message.
“I believed – and still believe – wholeheartedly in the power of dressing, but I couldn’t see anyone who had connected that with the uniform industry,” said Jabbour.
“That was the gap in the market I wanted to fill.”
Jabbour’s exposure to her father’s work in fashion manufacturing inspired her to create a uniform brand that told a story while making the people wearing them feel confident and empowered.
She wanted the opportunity to work and collaborate with her dad and harness his expertise and support, but she was also motivated to create something of her own.
She realised that marrying fashion and style with the uniform sector was a gap she could fill. With a solid business idea, Jabbour now faced the daunting task of getting her foot in the door.
“At the very beginning, I was young and passionate, but all I had was a business plan and no customers,” said Jabbour.
To rectify this, she set herself a challenging but rewarding exercise of making 100 cold sales calls every single day.
This gruelling exercise taught her the value of being told ‘no’, the power of resilience and grit, and it also helped her build her confidence and grow her network of business contacts.
“Lots of people said no, but I was sure that if I got just one customer, then the rest would fall into place, which is exactly what happened,” she said.
Jabbour’s hard work and belief in her mission helped her turn her first customer into what would eventually become a seven-figure business.
