- For many female veterans, going from military service
back into civilian life can be challenging,
especially when it comes to reentering the workforce
not knowing what to wear.
And that's where my next guest comes in.
She's a former National Guard specialist
who's found a special way to give back
to other female veterans, please welcome Toni Brooks.
(applause and cheering)
Hi Toni, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- So tell us why you decided to start your foundation.
- As a female veteran, sometime it's difficult
to transition into the civilian workforce,
and so when I went through my transition,
I had difficulties finding something to wear
when I was tryin' to get acclimated.
I served eight years in the Army National Guard,
and it was really tough, it was very intimidating,
so I approached the YWCA and I asked them
if they would allow me to do a fundraiser
for female veterans in work transition.
They obliged, and we ended up doing a fashion show,
quite naturally, that's my world, that's my expertise.
We raised funds to help female veterans transition.
We were able to do resume workshops and mock interviews
and things of that nature.
- Wow. (applause)
Well, Toni is about to help out a few more women, okay.
So we heard from three female veterans who were struggling
to transition back into civilian workforce,
and they needed new looks for their jobs.
So after the break, everybody, we're gonna meet these women,
and we're gonna see how Toni
worked her stylist makeover magic.
All right, everybody, we're back with Toni Brooks
and joining her is celebrity hair stylist, Johnny Wright,
who has worked with A-listers, such as former first lady,
Michelle Obama.
(cheering and applause)
And today, they're gonna be helping three female veterans
with new looks for their new jobs,
so this is called Operation Runway.
All right, so Toni, tell us about the first veteran.
- So we have Kelcey.
She actually did up to five years in the Marine Corps.
Yeah. (cheering and applause)
And so, Kelcey just recently got out of the service,
and she just got her job this week as a restaurant hostess,
and we're doing something training for her.
- All right, Kelcey, come on out.
(cheering) (upbeat music)
Okay, Kelcey.
Toni, tell us about this look.
- So we did the on trend, which is the leopard print
in a turtleneck for this season,
and we did a pencil skirt to accentuate her curves.
Yeah. (applause and cheering)
So Kelcey is very hip and trendy,
and we wanted her to be really bold.
As a restaurant hostess, you know she's talkin'
to people, she has to have that energy,
so we did a pop of red in that bold belt
and that bold shoe.
- Okay. (cheering and applause)
Johnny, tell us what you did with the hair.
So we gave her a real nice red copper color.
We bumped up a little bit.
She has a lot of hair, so it's fine,
so I added a few clip-in pieces in there,
but this is her natural hair texture, I didn't diffuse it.
(applause and cheering)
I got the clip-in pieces from Extensions Plus,
they have amazing hair, and this hair looks exactly
like her hair texture, we just diffused it,
and this is what you got.
- Wow. (cheering and applause)
Kelcey, everybody clappin' for you, they really feelin' you.
How you feel with your new look?
- Well Steve, if you know me, you know that this is way
out of my comfort zone, but I absolutely love everything
that these stylists did for us today.
- Thank you, Kelcey.
- Thank you. (cheering and applause)
- All right, Toni, Who's next?
- So we have Barbara.
Barbara served in the Army for almost 20 years.
Barbara's a lieutenant colonel, so she's a natural boss.
- Ooh, Lord. - Yeah.
(cheering and applause)
Barbara, come on out.
(cheering and applause)
All right, Toni, so tell us about Barbara's new look.
- So on Barbara, we went very bold
with the on trend high waisted trouser
in metallic and black, and it's one of those techniques
that you would use if you want to cinch your waist in.
We paired that with a nice white blouse,
it has a black piping to kind of
make everything come together.
We gave her a red vegan leather jack
with a collar that screams I'm a boss
with the bold red shoes.
(cheering and applause) - All right.
And Johnny, what'd you do with her hair?
- I mean, come on, that deep side part with that heavy bang,
that's boss lady all day. (cheering and applause)
So Barbara suffered a lot of stress when she was
in Afghanistan so she lost a lot of hair,
so I did put put some Extensions Plus clip-in pieces
in her hair as well, too, and I gave her a nice, sleek,
bone-straight, edgy bob or lob, you like to call it that,
and I think she's right on trend, she looks amazing.
(cheering and applause)
- So Barbara, how you feel about this look?
You ready for what you got comin' next?
- I'm excited to get back out there,
get back in the workforce, and make those moves.
- Hey, thank you Barbara.
(cheering and applause)
All right, Toni, tell us about your last veteran.
- All right, so Mia, Mis is the comedian of the bunch,
she had us all crackin' up.
But Mia served eight years in the Army,
and she was a combat medic, so she was also stressful
in her position because she had to actually watch
her fellow soldiers when they were wounded,
and she carried a lot of stress from that.
And so after Mia got out of the military,
she stayed at home and worked from home in real estate.
Mia never got out of a pair of pajamas.
But now she's ready to go into the corporate world
with a nice powerful look.
- All right, well Mia, come on out.
(cheering and applause)
- Look at her.
- Oh, I don't have to ask you how you doin'.
(laughing)
Toni, tell us about her new look.
- So, Mia, obviously, is in love with her curves.
So we definitely wanted to accentuate those curves.
We wanted to accentuate those curves in a corporate setting,
so we did a mauve dress and a bowed belt in plum.
Then we finished it all off with a deep plum boot.
So what we're doin' here with this look
is called monochromatic.
So a good useful tip is you take one color
in different shades, and you can wear one look.
- So Johnny, how'd you transform Mia's hair?
- I actually cut off about five inches of hair
around the base and then cut off even more
around the getting her the layers,
but we gave her some beautiful highlights,
which you can see, and bumped her base up just a little bit,
but you can see the nice shine on the hair,
and I think she looks great.
(cheering and applause)
- Why don't we have all the ladies come on back out.
(cheering) - You look amazing ladies.
You all are going home with those looks
so take everything with you that belongs to you.
- Thank you. (clapping)
- And, that's not all because Toni Brooks
is giving you a free shopping spree at her boutique.
(cheering and applause)
So folks, I want to thank Toni Brooks and Johnny Wright
for these great makeovers. (cheering and applause)
If you would like to donate to the Toni Brooks Foundation,
head over to SteveTV.com to learn more.
We'll be right back, everybody.
(upbeat music)
Hey, you made it to the end of this video.
I got a lot more that you're gonna enjoy,
so just click to watch the next one.
And make sure you subscribe to always know what's happenin'.