Blind in Business

Ever heard of “Blind in Business”? I hadn’t and it was only when Richard and I were sorting out the junk yard of an office in the shop that I came across them. I should quickly explain (before Richard gets defensive) that we are extremely well organised in the office. That it resembles the aftermath of an SAS anti terrorist insertion operation is because it is a small thriving entrepreneurial engine space, which enables the magic to happen upstairs, which you will know only too well! As I was saying, Richard and I were doing a spot of tidying up when I came across a number of photos of the staff with their clients. Normally in these situations the clients will have some sort of claim to fame – some valid, some not so, but on looking at these photos I didn’t recognise any faces. These were the participants of an exercise called “Project VIP” which is run by Blind in Business. Robin Spruell, who runs the scheme, contacted Richard last autumn to see whether we would be willing to participate. On finding out what this involved, Richard was more than happy to put Pall Mall Barbers forward to play its part.

Imagine it’s the day of the interview for your dream job. You’ve picked out your best suit and your lucky underwear and you’re shaved and groomed to the hilt. You look at yourself in the hall mirror one more time and say to yourself “I’m a winner” before heading to the door. But what if you can’t check yourself over and give your reflection a morale boosting pick-me-up?

Of course if you’re like me you’ll also have checked and re-checked and then checked just one more time in an AtoZ where you have to get to and which combination of buses, trains and tubes you need to catch to get you to that all important interview with time to spare, even if you’ve made the journey a 1000 times before, but again what if the option of an AtoZ in the briefcase is not an option at all? What if you’re blind or partially sighted?

Now, or course those who are visually impaired are more than capable of getting around and presenting themselves in a fashionable and professional manner, but if you think about the stress and nerve levels that a sighted person feels before taking the , how much do you need to multiply that by for a visually impaired person? As the Blind for Business website states, “…confidence is so fragile and often lacking in young blind and partially sighted people.”

The purpose of “Project VIP” is to take a group of blind and partially sighted men and women and educate them in how to present themselves for both interviews and the workplace. This is done by first taking the participants to a hairstylist for a consultation on how to mould / style their hair. This includes the barber telling the participant what they need to ask for each time they go for a haircut and photographs to be used for future reference. The participants are then taken on to a clothes store to discuss what they might wear for interviews before going to a workshop to chat with top corporate professionals about the issues for blind and partially sighted people in the interview environment.

On November 2nd Pall Mall Barbers welcomed the participants into the shop and got cracking, making them look sharp and dapper. It was a bonding exercise not only for the participants but also for the barbers and of course with this came plenty of banter – Richard wouldn’t have it any other way!

From the Blind in Business website it sounds like they had a great day, not only at Pall Mall Barbers but at all the other venues then went to, including Google HQ. I’d be fascinated to know what the Project VIP guys are doing now and if I find out I’ll let you all know.


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