A bright politician with a very impressive curriculum vitae but a very dim fashion sense can be easily eclipsed by another who exudes bravura and exuberance.

A job applicant who clinched a diploma from a top university but who exhibits tentativeness in answering questions can kiss the position goodbye when pitted against someone who appears to be smart — and again — confident about acing the job.

The people behind John Robert Powers School only know this too well.

An institution built on "selling’’ confidence, John Robert Powers School runs on a curriculum that is at the core of personality development, executive skills, modeling, and even acting.

‘There is no such thing as an unattractive person, just people who do not know their own potentials and do not do anything to make the most of what they have,’’ explains Marivic Padilla-Catala, international director of JRP International.

Personality development is the logic of JRP International’s business. When John Robert Powers (yes, the person!) founded the first modeling agency in 1923, he thought of opening up a school where he could hone future models. Soon, even ladies of money, fame and leisure would sign up for a Powers course just so they could be armed with the muchneeded confidence. On JRP’s roster are names like US First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Betty Ford, actress Princes Grace of Monaco, Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball, and eventually even male actors like Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power. Soon, it became known as the definitive finishing school.

In the Philippines, several students and graduates of John Robert Powers have made waves in various fields. In the beauty pageant scene recently, three JRP students won awards in different pageants: Rochelle Quiambao received the Miss Photogenic and Miss Talent Awards during the Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004 pageant; Shereen Ladera won the Miss Makati 2005 among 11 candidates who vied for the title; and Antoninette Stephanie Yu won the Miss Fire of the Miss Philippines Earth 2005 pageant.

Still in many families, being enrolled at JRP International, specially during summer, has become a tradition. Mothers who have gone through the JRP courses in their youth gift their daughters with lifetime enrolment to the school’s different programs.

Confidence does a lot to a person.

JRP curriculum director Tess Carlos Avenante can attest to this. A ‘’provinciana’’ who found herself enrolled in an exclusive, Catholic girls school, Tess thought that it would be wise if she got help from professionals on how to be more confident in the way she carries herself, communicates and dresses up.

"Laking probinsya ako so I didn’t know at first how to mingle with my classmates who were mostly Manila-bred. I thought it better to seek ‘outside’ help, not so much to change me, but to improve me,’’ recalls Avenante, who adds that after taking the course, she was ready to face the job market without fear or apprehension.

Today, this JRP exec is a living testimony to the wonders that proper personality training can do. She walks the walks and talks the talks, and she pays it forward by sharing knowledge and experiences with the present crop of JRP students which include not only models and budding actors, but also students, mothers, politicians, executives, children — actually everybody who just want to make a difference in their lives.

"There is no such thing as a hopeless case. What matters is the desire to improve should come from within,’’ adds Catala.

Its banner offering, the Basic Personality Development Program, is a 20-hour interactive instruction that focuses on self-concept and personal values. A student is first analyzed so that the program could be adjusted to the student’s specific needs. Here, a student is trained in imagery, communication, visual pose and projection.

"For instance, he needs more lessons in speech, then we do that. Or the mother of a young girl would say that she wants her daughter to be more stylish, we focus on lessons in proper dressing and grooming. But we do not dwell on trends, let me correct that. We teach our students about ‘investment dressing,’ We tell them what is classic, what is appropriate or not for what occasion. These things make a man. Specially in the real world, these things matter a lot,’’ Avenante explains.

Naturalness was Power’s gospel and he encouraged his students with his "don’t make up, make down" mantra.

"Our schools still believe and teach this philosophy. Be natural. Bring out the best in yourself. That is what are courses are about,’’ Catala explains.

Other modules offered include: Integrated Image Enhancement (Level II), a 20-hour, 10-session workshop designed to aid students with the practical strategies and applications towards confident self-expression and resource-management;

Skills Integratrion and Development Workshop (Levels III and IV), each a 10-hour advanced personality development session with the latter more catered towards achieving competency in a student’s career; and Celebrity and Executive Program (Level V), which is more for those who are eyeing at their star in the showbiz firmament, in the political arena or in the top rungs of the corporate ladder.

"In all these, we encourage the students to be comfortable with themselves, to accept themselves. That is the in the core of our programs.