#headshotgiveaway

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Ready for a close-up

Congratulations to the winners of our headshot giveaway, Sue Durnwirth and Jon Heckel, co-founders of the corporate recruiting and staffing firm Bench, Inc., and Courtney Fleming and Chandler Owdom with Virginia Bankers Association. Each pair submitted riveting (and downright creative) reasons why they deserved a portrait refresh.

From Sue (pictured above) and Jon, a heartfelt plea to overhaul their stuffy, corporate image as they embark on their praiseworthy entrepreneurial journey:

We are corporate refugees. We had decent careers, and then escaped the “Golden Handcuffs” to live the dream of starting our own company and becoming entrepreneurs (drum roll please) in our 50s. We’re reminded daily that corporate recruiting is not considered as sexy as, let’s say, a new brewery, a hip restaurant or a stylish marketing/PR firm housed in a historic building. And to further uncool ourselves, we are not headquartered in Scott’s Addition or some other hot neighborhood downtown. We’re just off Midlothian Turnpike because the brick and glass office park felt familiar to our former selves, and we know we have to regain our cool factor in small steps.

We also agree that our LinkedIn profiles and company website are windows into our company, and that we could greatly benefit from new and improved head shots. So if you’re up for the challenge of helping some perky Baby Boomers beef up their social media presence, we would welcome a shot with your photographer extraordinaire!

P.S. In case this story is not sad enough, here are a few other things you should know:

• We’d love to bring our dogs to work with us, but they both died last year. • We wish we could have a big slide or a beer pong table in the office, but the building is too small, and we can’t bring ourselves to constantly say “corn hole.” • We have snacks in our breakroom, but they’re boring because they impart calories just by looking at them. • As much as we’d like to halt the spread of the chronic condition known as aging, sadly, it will happen to you as well. Sorry...

HELP!

And from Courtney and Chandler, an ingenious and hilarious poem entitled, “Courtney and Chandler Need New Headshots.”

Courtney and Chandler met at the VBA back in 2009, Courtney couldn't keep doing the communications work alone; she needed a lifeline.

The banking industry was going through a crisis, And the things the media were saying about us weren't the nicest.

There was much work to be done to set the record straight, And we are a duo who loves a mission - so we took the bait.

Chandler's college years were put to an end, Who knew she would come to VBA and find such a good friend?

It is not often you find two women with such passion and drive, Who aren’t out to eat each other alive!

Chandler is witty and crazy good at details, And helps to ensure we don't have any major #fails.

Courtney is passionate and driven and creative as can be, And helps Chandler out when she's so busy she can't see.

Chandler remembers everyone's birthdays and makes them a big deal, She's always in touch with how people feel.  

Courtney cares so intensely about everyone she works with on Cox Road, She makes time for people, no matter her workload.

We spend hours upon hours working and fretting and checking off lists, But when one of us is overloaded, the other always jumps in to assist.

After seven years working together, we have more lines and grey hairs, So we need headshots that make us look like we have no cares!

Please help us look on the outside as beautiful, professional, driven and smart, As we know we already are on the inside and deep in our hearts!

Thank you for considering us for this treat, We know choosing a winner will be quite the feat!

But take us back to our look in '09; We truly feel it's again our time to shine!

Congrats again to Sue, Jon, Courtney, and Chandler. We’re thrilled to help them look and feel their best! And a big THANK YOU to all who submitted stories and tales of portraits gone bad. We loved reading your stories.