Local Mom Helping Women Transition Into New Jobs
CLEBURNE (CBSDFW.COM) - Are you having a hard time finding a job? You are certainly not alone. The unemployment rate in Texas sits at 8 percent. But in Johnson County, where the rate is 7.6 percent, one North Texas mother is using her free time to help other women find work again – like a job placement center tailored toward moms getting back into the workforce, or other women in need of a transition.
Tonya Johnson has big plans for an old furniture building in Cleburne. She wants to turn it into a place where women can thrive.
The grand idea came to Johnson after her mother died. "I lost my mom about a year and a half ago," Johnson said. "In that process, I was trying to figure out my purpose. What am I here for?"
That is when the Royal Princess Foundation was born.
The Royal Princess Foundation is a nonprofit unlike any other job placement agency that is out there. Women get the standard resume and interview help, but also tips on makeup and clothing. One-on-one coaches are provided to help focus candidates on what to wear or what not to wear, depending on certain circumstances.
And the agency even provides women with the proper clothes.
"If you give a woman a pair of heels, she walks a little taller. She feels a little better about herself," Johnson said.
Jennifer Jacobs is living proof of the agency's results. "I was dispatching tow trucks," she said. But she wanted to reinvent herself – and now works in sales. "I doubted myself in the beginning a lot. Me in sales? I don't have any business being in sales."
But Johnson started to help Jacobs realize her dream -- by changing her makeup, clothes and, eventually, her attitude. "I did walk a little taller," said Jacobs. "I did have a little more self-confidence."
Johnson now hopes to turn that old furniture building into a home for the Royal Princess Foundation by October of this year, and you can help. She is looking for other businesses that are willing to help women reach their destination – resume writers, clothing stores or anyone else that might be able to help out.
"I see it being bigger than what I can even imagine," Johnson said.
The Royal Princess Foundation is holding a fundraiser event on Saturday at the Cleburne Conference Center, located at 501 West Henderson Street. Click here for information about the agency and this event.
