Jackson Free Press

Daphne Higgins was born in Clarksdale in June 1961, one of 10 siblings. The big family made her into a people person, she says. After receiving her bachelor's degree in mass communications at Jackson State University in 1983, she continued her education in public relations at the University of Memphis. Higgins got married and moved to Jackson with her husband, John, in 1992.

"He's from Jackson, so that was my reason for working here, " Higgins says. Together, the couple has two children: a daughter Charence, now 18, and a son, J.P., who is 16.

In 1992, Higgins started a 13-year sales career at The Clarion-Ledger. She left the paper in 2004 because of her son's learning disabilities. "I felt I was fixing my son," she says of giving up her full-time job. "I wanted more time with him--and my complete focus."

In October 2008, Earnestine Alexander convinced Higgins to volunteer and sit on the board of Dress For Success Metro Jackson. Alexander is the sister of DFSMJ's executive director, Pat Chambliss, who asked Higgins to come on staff a year later. Dress For Success is an international organization that helps improve the lives of women and has 129 affiliates in 13 countries. It provides professional clothing, retention programs and support to instill confidence and secure jobs.

Women come to Dress For Success through referrals. The DFSMJ Career Center helps clients create resumes and conducts mock interviews so that they'll be ready to land a job. DFSMJ then dresses them from head to toe for interviews through the Suiting Program.

As a program coordinator, Higgins has dressed women from Mississippi Valley State University, the Rankin County Department of Human Services, the Jackson WIN Job Center and dozens of other local referrals.

"When a woman comes here, I dress her inwardly more so than outwardly," Higgins says. "I help her realize she is filled with potential, and her outfit complements her person."

After a woman finds work, she can return to Dress for Success for a full week's worth of professional attire. The Going Places Network, Professional Women's Group and financial literacy programs help women gain professional skills, network and advance in their careers.

In partnership with DFS, department-store chain J.C. Penney invites customers to easily make contributions to local chapters. "When we pull up our screen, it shows us this month's donations. At the end of each transaction we ask customers to round up their dollars for donations to DFS," says Teresa Powers, a J.C. Penney sales associate in Flowood.

"I believe that God sent me here," Higgins says of her work with Dress for Success. "I was successful in my communications career, and now it's time to do this."

For more information about Dress for Success Metro Jackson, call 601-985-9888 or 601-364-1722.