HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Yemi Brown does a little bit of everything.<\/p>\n
“Work as a merchandiser, I’ve done personal shopping, I might do front desk once in a while,” Brown says, running down the list of roles.<\/p>\n
These are no ordinary tasks.<\/p>\n
Each one helps another woman get one step closer to her goals through Dress for Success Houston<\/a>, a non-profit Brown says gave her the same support she’s now showing others.<\/p>\n When you build women and instill in them that sense of confidence, it spreads out in multitudes within our city.<\/p>\n “For me, it’s absolutely incredible that I’m now on the other side. That nine years ago I thought I would never be here,” Brown, a Dress for Success Houston participant and volunteer, told ABC13.<\/p>\n Brown’s journey with Dress For Success started in 2017 when trying to get back into the workforce following stepping away from college at age 19 and spending more than a decade raising and homeschooling her three sons, Hezekiah, Jordan, and Carter.<\/p>\n “When you’ve been out of the workforce for a long time, you don’t have a reason to put on a blouse and a pencil skirt or a suit jacket,” she said. “You don’t really see yourself as that professional person. But when you come here and you start trying on clothes, you are actually embodying this new person that can go out into the workforce and be the person that you absolutely think you’re capable of being or even beyond.”<\/p>\n Brown called the clothes her “suit of armor,” critical pieces that have not only helped women like her open doors, but kick them down.<\/p>\n “There are lots of things that I’ve gained from Dress for Success that has nothing to do with my professional growth,” Brown began. “My kids have been valuable receivers of some of the skills that I’ve learned. Financial literacy has been amazing. Their scholarships, which helped me finish my undergraduate degree in accounting. Fit for Success is another one. I started with a 5K. Now, I’ve completed half marathons and 20-mile hikes.”<\/p>\n “I like to consider myself a “Dress for Success” mascot. I’ve done probably all of their programs,” Brown adds with a laugh.<\/p>\n Suiting is just one of the many services Dress for Success Houston offers women.<\/p>\n Providing opportunities to go “Beyond the suit,” Dress for Success Houston says, is exactly what launching the non-profit was all about.<\/p>\n Susie Cunningham and Nancy Levicki started the Houston branch on April 3, 1998, making it the international organization’s third affiliate in the U.S. and the first in Texas.<\/p>\n Giving women that choice helps the world.<\/p>\n Yemi Brown on how educating women and girls ultimately gives them options<\/p>\n The goal was simple: Introduce women to tools that put them on a path of self-sufficiency for them and their families.<\/p>\n “I would take our flyers home and my kids would be like, ‘Oh my goodness, What did you bring back? What are we learning again?’ Anything that I learned here, I would always take it back home to teach them and to encourage them,” Brown recalled.<\/p>\n What started with clothing drives led by Cunningham and Levicki quickly morphed into now more than 20 programs<\/a>, including their Professional Women’s Group<\/a>, which Brown has been a member of for nine years, and as a result, has completed more than 360 workshops, and resources for women veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2004, Dress for Success Houston added Models of Success, where clients’ triumphs are celebrated as they rock the runway.<\/p>\n ABC13 anchor Charly Edsitty<\/a> served as emcee for the event in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n “I completely understand that as women, we are really critical of ourselves,” Brown said. “There’s always the mom guilt or the single lady guilt or whatever guilt it is that we have. And I think for women, understanding that you can lean, reach out to a community, find a community of women, and lean on that community because we all go through similar experiences.”<\/p>\n Brown, a financial and reporting analyst with Chevron, also says she knows exactly what she’d tell her younger self.<\/p>\n “I would tell her to trust the process, be authentic, and trust that the people who you surround yourself with will see you and will lift you up even when you don’t think you can lift yourself up,” Brown said.<\/p>\n She adds, “When you build women and instill in them that sense of confidence, it spreads out in multitudes within our city.”<\/p>\n And that impact is exactly why the group exists today.<\/p>\n “Once women are educated, you have the choice to be, ‘OK. I would like to stay home and own a farm, or I would like to be a CEO or a CFO.’ But giving women that choice helps the world,” Brown continued.<\/p>\n That mindset is weaved into the fabric of Dress for Success Houston.<\/p>\n In fact, the organization says that when it broke ground on their current building at 3310 Eastside St., members of the Professional Women’s Group at the time wrote their dream jobs on Post It Notes, which were then put in a cylinder and placed in the foundation of the building. That means it was quite literally built on the hopes and dreams of women.<\/p>\n That dream continues in the group’s annual “Her Path Forward” campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Dress for Success Houston looks to serve more than 3,000 women through ‘Her Path Forward’ campaign<\/a><\/p>\n Kicking off in March during Women’s History Month and continuing beyond, the goal is to serve more than 3,100 women this year.<\/p>\n In DFSH’s nearly 30-year history, it says it has also addressed the needs of more than 49,500 women.<\/p>\n ABC13 is a media partner of Dress for Success.<\/p>\n Follow Brittaney Wilmore on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n