Rainwater Donates Time and Talent to Help 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Students Dress for Success
A group of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students will be dressed for success as they head to St. Louis to defend their title in a national real estate competition, thanks to the generosity of a local Little Rock business owner.
Paul Rainwater, owner of in the Promenade at Chenal, has donated his time and skills to create custom business outfits for a team of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who will be competing in the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation鈥檚 Annual Real Estate Challenge in April. Trojan Champions, a new initiative of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Annual Fund, donated the cost of the materials for the business outfits.
鈥淚 chose for these students a classic business look, a navy blazer and gray business pants,鈥� Rainwater said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a timeless, classic look right out of the 鈥楧ress for Success鈥� formula. I first got that book in 1976, and there is a whole chapter on the navy blazer. It鈥檚 a timeless look that they can use for meetings, interviews, and business activities. If there is anything that has more than one purpose, it鈥檚 a blazer. You can also wear it with jeans and khakis. It has a lot of versatility to dress up and down.鈥�
Rainwater is a seasoned veteran in the fashion industry with five decades of invaluable experience under his belt. He opened his first shop in 1974 and is currently celebrating his 50th anniversary of being in the clothing business.
鈥淚鈥檝e always built my business on making friends, and I can鈥檛 think of a better investment than college students who are on their way up in the world,鈥� Rainwater said.
The Eisenberg Foundation Challenge matches teams from selected universities in a competition focusing on a high-profile development/redevelopment project. Last year, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 team won the competition for the first time, and they are competing for a $7,500 scholarship during this year鈥檚 competition.
鈥淲e as a team were trying to coordinate what we were going to wear so we could look in unison during our presentation, and actually getting a custom suit that makes us all look so sharp is a huge blessing and is just really awesome for us as a team,鈥� said Osman Bagandov, a senior finance major. 鈥淲ith 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock winning the competition last year, the target is definitely on our backs, but we are embracing the challenge and hoping to deliver a great presentation and hopefully win back-to-back titles.鈥�
Elizabeth Small, director of business networks and instructor of real estate development, will be leading the team of students 鈥� Bagandov, Adison Cummings, Ashlin Graveline, and Lamar Townsend 鈥� who all have a keen interest in commercial real estate development.
鈥淭he school is sending us back in style, and we are just showing the other schools that we have quite a few new tricks up our sleeve,鈥� said Adison Cummings, a senior architectural and civil engineering major. 鈥淚 definitely see myself wearing this outfit to potential job interviews or any other events where I may need to dress up. It’s a snazzy outfit.鈥�
Ashlin Graveline, a senior finance and real estate major, thinks having the outfit will be beneficial during the competition and after.
鈥淚 am so thankful for receiving a custom outfit for the real estate competition,鈥� Graveline said. 鈥淭he team has worked very hard on this project, and it will be rewarding to see the presentation and ideas come together. The outfit will be very beneficial with the competition and outside of it. It will be great for multiple uses, an example being a job interview.鈥�