Trudy Davies Davis sees a natural connection between her dual careers as a nurse and as a certified image consultant and personal coach.
“There is healing in both aspects of my work,” said Davis, RN. “I know I was created to help people and to invest in their lives. That’s my passion.”
Davis always loved science and biology and excelled in those subjects in school. In nursing, she found a career that grew and changed with her life experiences. Since earning a nursing degree from Kennesaw State University in 1985, she has been an emergency room nurse, a trauma flight nurse and a school nurse.
Today, she works three days a week in the separate practices of Atlanta plastic surgeons John M. Griffin and Miles Graivier. Davis cares for patients before and after surgery.
“Nursing is the most wonderful career because there are so many aspects to it,” Davis said. “It’s a career you can stick with for life, and [it’s] such a blessing.”
Her interest in image consulting grew from her nursing experiences.
“I couldn’t help but notice that many women suffered from low self-esteem, and [I saw] how that affected them emotionally and physically. It was an issue I wanted to do something about,” she said.
Davis, who had done some modeling when she was growing up, entered the 2001 Georgia Mrs. of the Year pageant, won it and went on to become America’s Mrs. of the Year in 2001.
“I told the judges that if I won I wanted to use the money to start a company that would help build self-esteem in women and adolescents,” she said.
Davis co-founded The Image Academy in Roswell in 2002.
“We are dedicated to helping individuals reach their full potential,” Davis said. “Lack of confidence can have a crippling effect on women. The paradox is that when women are less self-conscious about how they look, they are more willing to be who they were meant to be.”
The Image Academy offers consultations to teach women about their bodies and how to dress. The academy provides closet consultations to help them plan and organize an attractive wardrobe, and it also gives personal shopping services.
Davis brings medical knowledge and advice to clients who are considering cosmetic procedures or plastic surgery. She also leads seminars on image and personal development for corporations and organizations.
“To me, the work is as fulfilling as nursing,” she said.
Davis believes a lack of confidence can have negative effects on people, just as illnesses or injuries do. When women get together, they often bond by complaining about their weight or what they don’t like about their bodies, she said.
“It only reinforces the bad feelings we have about ourselves and we pass this self-defeating behavior on to our daughters” she said. “My passion is to break that cycle.
“It’s healing for a person to learn more about themselves and to begin to see the possibilities rather than the problems. I help women to look at themselves in a more positive light.”
Davis has had no trouble marketing her business because many satisfied clients have referred their friends and daughters.
Finding the time to keep up with business technology, medical advances and fashion trends is more of a challenge for Davis, especially with her nursing hours.
“You just have to take the time to do the research on cutting-edge techniques and new fashion designs,” she said. “If you take it one client and one day at a time, you get there.”
Breast cancer interrupted Davis’ busy schedule four years ago. Being a nurse helped her navigate through mastectomy surgery and treatment, but Davis was told she wasn’t a good candidate for breast reconstruction surgery.
When she consulted with Atlanta plastic surgeon James Namnoum, he thought Davis was a candidate for an innovative and controversial procedure that uses fat from a patient’s body to prepare radiated breast tissue to accept an implant. Davis’s surgery was a success and she became a spokesperson for Namnoum’s charity, the Pink Ribbon Story Foundation (www.pinkribbonstories.com).
“He has such a heart for helping women,” she said. “The site provides a place where breast cancer survivors share their stories and resources with other women.”
Women can go the website, type in their concerns and a survivor’s story will come up that addresses them.
“There’s nothing like hearing hope from someone who has gone through what you’re going through,” Davis said. “The site focuses on survivability and thriveability. As one survivor said, ‘Sharing is healing.’ How could I not support that?”
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