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After decades of working as a runway model, showcasing fashions by top designers like Christian Dior and Louis F?raud, West Vancouver's Taaja Kayler still has the swagger.
But in recent years, she's decided to step back from the limelight and give others a turn on the catwalk.
"I'm at the point in my life, where I want to give something back," says Kayler, whose modeling career began at 16 after she was discovered at a department store. Looking back, this tall, long-lashed, blue-eyed blond says she was like every other young girl.
"I didn't have the confidence," she says.
But with a lifetime of modeling experience behind her and as a mother of two adult children, that's now changed -- Kayler's confidence is commanding just as much attention as her black knee-high boots. And, more recently, she has been spreading and sharing the secrets of self-assurance with other women. In fact, over the past year, Kayler has been working as a confidence coach, facilitating workshops for small groups of women. Her clients are taught the tools of her trade and coached on moves, such as "the walk," "the look," and "how to own the room."
"Having confidence means having self-worth and self-value, " Kayler says. "Showing this confidence through your walk is a tool that is available to everyone."
When I met with Kayler for an interview last week, I learned just why her business has, quite literally, taken off the runway. I brought a tape recorder and notepad to the meeting -- she brought a red carpet and a boombox. It wasn't what you would call a typical interview. Outside the North Vancouver RCMP detachment at 14th Street and Lonsdale, Kayler rolled out her portable red carpet in front of several unsuspecting office workers out sipping lattes on their mid-morning break.
"Follow me," she said, demonstrating the move she calls "the walk."
And so, with my pelvis tilted, shoulders back, head high, and elbows in -- I mimicked her steps to the rhythm of the song "I'm too sexy." Of course, coordinating the strut was not easy -- and surely, I didn't look "too sexy for New York or Milan." At best, I was "sexy enough for Red Deer."
But Kayler says what she teaches is not about being a model or even modeling. Instead, it's about showing others how they can radiate with self-confidence.
Leslie Horne, a marketing manager, looks back at her time with Kayler as a great learning experience. Horne's decision to enroll in the confidence workshop came about six months ago, after some of her friends pointed out that she "had a stiff walk." Since working with Kayler, Horne says she is more relaxed and confident.
"It really changed how I present myself, especially in different situations," she says.
In fact, a few weeks after taking the class, Horne decided to practice her newly acquired runway moves at the office.
"I walked over to the coffee machine and another woman said 'oh, don't you look sexy'" says Horne. "The compliment felt good."
For Kayler, moving with confidence is critical -- under every situation.
Source : http://www2.canada.com
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