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Honoring our 2025 Mary Ivers Award Winner: LaToya Bagley

The following speech was written and delivered by LaToya Bagley at the Dress for Success Cincinnati 2025 Fashion Show

Picture this: a college graduate with a master’s degree in finance and soon to be a divorced mother of 2, homeless. Relying on drugs and alcohol to survive. Sitting in a shelter on Fourth Street in downtown Cincinnati with no job, no home, and no idea how I was going to rebuild my life. I had education. I had experience. But I didn’t have an outfit for an interview, much less the confidence to believe I belonged anywhere near the word “success.”

That’s how far away I felt.

Thirteen years ago, I walked through the doors of Dress for Success Cincinnati thinking I was just getting clothes for a job interview. I didn’t realize I was walking into a turning point. Because what I received was far more than fabric, it was faith. It was dignity. It was hope.

The fitting room that day changed something in me. The clothes made me look the part—but the encouragement made me feel it. And that’s what DFSC is really about. Because dressing for success doesn’t begin with what you put on your body. It starts with how you rebuild what’s inside of you. Confidence. Self-worth. Belief. And that day, I left not only ready for my interview, but feeling ready for my future. And I got the job.

But I stayed connected to DFSC even after that, because I realized I wasn’t just part of a program, I was part of a community. I returned for Women’s Circle years later, and by then it wasn’t about what to wear to an interview. It was about dressing up the parts of me that still needed healing, my mind, my spirit, my dreams.
Even now, the work continues. I’m proud to say I’ve created a company that helps “dress” seniors with tech skills so they can stay connected with never ending changes in tech that can make them feel like they are not a part of. And it’s no coincidence that it all started in that same room, where someone believed in me before I could believe in myself.
To Megan and Ajiaga thank you. Thank you for continuing to think of me. I know how many women come through these doors, and it means so much to be remembered, seen, and celebrated. I do not take that for granted, and I hope to repay it by continuing to uplift the next woman behind me.
And to every woman hearing this: You are not your rock bottom. You are not your past. You are not too far gone. With the right support, the right reminder, and the right room, you can rise again.
Tonight, I accept this award in the name of a woman who built that kind of room, Mary Ivers. Mary was more than a founder, she was a force. A second mother to the city. A mentor who did everything with class, laughter, and a smile. And because of her, women like me have a place to come home to, rebuild, and rise. Thank you, Mary, for believing in the kind of success that starts from the inside out.
Thank you, DFSC, for continuing to carry that legacy. And thank you all for letting me share mine.

 

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