Yelena (Solovey) Jackson's '00 The School of Fabulous

Coming from the background of being a Russian immigrant at the age of 11, starting a Jewish education for the first time, and adapting to a new life in the land of opportunity – you can say that Yelena (Solovey) Jackson ’00 has truly embraced the American dream.  After graduating from BT, Yelena went on to study International Business at Goucher College and then to earn her MBA at the George Washington University, where she graduated at the top of her class.  She started working for the Federal Government right after college and has enjoyed a very rewarding 10-year career in the procurement field.

However, Yelena’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for helping others have taken her on a new adventure.  She founded The School of Fabulous, an image consulting firm in the DC area, to follow her calling and help others by combining her talents, passions, and mission in life.  Always mindful of the effect of image on confidence and success, Yelena had become an early student of image management, the power of first impressions, and the role of self-confidence in achieving results.  In fact, she credits her early fascination with this subject to her personal experiences as an immigrant in a wealthier community and the connection between someone’s public image and their internal feelings of self-worth.  She notes a prime example of this as Mrs. Schorr, “who showed that you can be stylish and powerful—and that you should always wear high heels!” Add to that her love of the power of non-verbal communication and her obsession with helping people see the best in themselves – and it becomes easy to see that she is doing exactly what she is meant to be doing.  

Yelena works with clients one-on-one to educate them on the ABCs of image – Appearance, Behavior, and Communications.  She is an active member of the Association of Image Consultants International, where she is serving on the Board of Directors for her third year now.  She loves to help her clients put their best foot forward by consciously creating their personal brand through their style and body language (and she helps them shop with savvy, too).  Yelena also teaches workshops and gives presentations on all types of image, style, and success related topics.  She is excited to launch some new group workshops for women on style and confidence, as well.

“If BT taught her anything,” she says, “it is that with passion and dedication, you can achieve anything.”  From the survival of the Jewish spirit to her own story of “coming to America”, Yelena has been inspired by her upbringing in the halls of BT. She feels grateful to America and to BT for allowing her the freedom to blossom and pursue every opportunity she desired. 

Yelena mentions that another huge takeaway from her BT education is her love of learning.  She feels that one should never stop learning and she can never get enough – she rewarded herself for graduating from graduate school by completing intensive training in image consulting so she could start her business, and continues to seek opportunities to learn.  The atmosphere of learning—studying together and being proud to pursue knowledge—is her fondest memory of her time in BT.  She asserts that such a community of learning is not easy to come by again.

If you’d like to learn more about Yelena, she can be contacted in the following ways:
202-743-7905
Yelena@TheSchoolOfFabulous.com
www.TheSchoolOfFabulous.com
Facebook: The School of Fabulous
Twitter: @theschooloffab
LinkedIn: The School of Fabulous Image Consulting