Management Team

RAKESH AGARWAL

Rakesh Agarwal is a pioneering entrepreneur, business mentor, author, and one of India's foremost advocates of self-image development and personal transformation. As the Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI), he has played a pivotal role in establishing Image Consulting and Soft Skills Training as recognized professions in India and beyond.

With over 35 years of entrepreneurial experience, Rakesh has consistently demonstrated a remarkable ability to identify emerging opportunities and build industries ahead of their time. A graduate of Boston University and a second-generation entrepreneur, he has been associated with several pioneering ventures that have left a lasting impact on India's business landscape.

At the age of just 21, he introduced organized car rental services to India through a collaboration with Hertz Rent A Car, creating one of the country's earliest structured mobility solutions. In 1989, he launched Ask Me, the world's first telephone-based search engine service, a concept that would later become mainstream through directory search platforms.

A passionate believer in lifelong learning and personal development, Rakesh introduced India's first self-help sales training program, Winning in Sales Every Time, in 1994. His entrepreneurial achievements earned him recognition as one of the Top Five Finalists for the prestigious India Young Business Achievers Award in 1996.

From 2000 to 2009, he served as the Managing Director of Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training, contributing significantly to its growth and success as one of India's leading vocational training institutions.

In 2009, driven by a larger purpose of helping people transform their lives, Rakesh co- founded Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI). Under his leadership, ICBI has grown into one of the world's leading institutions in Image Consulting and Soft Skills Training, empowering thousands of professionals to build meaningful careers while transforming the lives of their clients.

For more than three decades, Rakesh has championed the cause of strengthening self-image, building self-esteem, and helping individuals unlock their true potential. He firmly believes that success in life is deeply connected to how individuals perceive themselves and that sustainable transformation begins from within.

Through education, mentoring, coaching, and professional development initiatives, he has been instrumental in enabling over 7,500 professionals to gain qualifications in Image Consulting and establish successful consulting, coaching, training, and personal development practices. Many of these professionals today help individuals and organizations improve their appearance, behaviour, communication, confidence, leadership presence, and personal effectiveness.

Rakesh also serves as Director of the Image Management Professionals' Association (IMPA), the leading professional association for Image Management professionals in the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. Through his leadership and vision, he continues to support the growth of professional standards, industry development, and social impact initiatives across the region.

A sought-after speaker, trainer, mentor, and entrepreneur, Rakesh is widely respected for his ability to inspire individuals to think bigger, act with confidence, and create successful businesses. Over the years, he has mentored thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals, helping them build sustainable careers and achieve personal and professional success.

He is also the co-author of the acclaimed book First Impressions, Lasting Impressions, published by Times Group Books, which explores the profound influence of image, perception, and personal impact in everyday life.

Today, Rakesh's mission remains clear: to reach millions of people directly and indirectly through a global community of Image Consultants, Trainers, Coaches, and Mentors, helping them overcome poor self-image, build self-belief, and create lives of confidence, purpose, fulfilment, and success.

Rakesh’s Belief
"When people improve the way they see themselves, they improve the way they experience life. Every meaningful transformation begins with self-image."

SUMAN AGARWAL

Suman Agarwal is an International Authority in Image Management, Co-Founder of the Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI), and the pioneering force behind the Image Consulting industry in India.

When Image Consulting was virtually unknown in the country, Suman introduced and established the profession in 2009, laying the foundation for what would become a thriving industry that has transformed countless careers and lives. Today, she is widely regarded as the most senior Image Consultant in the Indian subcontinent and one of the foremost advocates of image management as a catalyst for personal and professional success.

Over the past decade and a half, Suman has been on a mission to help individuals bridge the gap between who they are and how they are perceived. Through her vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence, she has contributed to the development of over 7,500 Image Consultants and Soft Skills Trainers and positively impacted more than 2M+ lives through image management, communication, confidence-building, and personal transformation interventions.

As the Co-Founder of Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI), Suman has played a pivotal role in building one of the world's leading institutions dedicated to Image Consulting and Soft Skills education. Through ICBI, she has helped create a sustainable ecosystem that empowers individuals to build meaningful careers while enabling organizations and communities to benefit from the power of image management.

She also serves as a guiding force behind the Image Management Professionals' Association (IMPA), one of the largest professional bodies of its kind in the region. Under her leadership, IMPA has evolved into a dynamic and purpose-driven organization committed to professional excellence, industry advancement, and social impact. Through numerous CSR and outreach initiatives, image management has been extended beyond boardrooms and businesses to touch the lives of underserved communities as well.

Before pioneering the Image Consulting profession, Suman held senior national-level leadership roles where she was responsible for establishing quality standards, service excellence frameworks, training systems, and implementation processes across large organizations. Her expertise in customer experience, quality management, human behaviour, and professional image created the foundation upon which she would later build an entire industry.

Prior to this, Suman spent eight successful years with Jet Airways, where she became known for her commitment to service excellence and professional image. Her contribution towards strengthening service culture and image standards earned her widespread recognition, culminating in her being chosen as the "Face of the Airline" in 2003, a distinction that reflected the professionalism, grace, and credibility she embodied.

A widely travelled professional, sought-after speaker, mentor, educator, and industry builder, Suman combines strategic insight with a deep understanding of human potential. Her work has inspired thousands to transform not just how they look, but how they think, communicate, lead, and influence.

Today, her mission remains unwavering: to elevate lives, build meaningful careers, and establish Image Management as an essential life skill that empowers individuals to achieve success with confidence, credibility, and authenticity.

Suman’s Belief
"Image is not merely about how others perceive you. It begins with how you perceive yourself. When self-perception and external perception align, true transformation begins."

JUDITH RASBAND

Judith Rasband is a Certified Image Master (CIM) in the Association of Image Consultants International, one of the first to be awarded with this achievement and one of only eight worldwide. Her Core Competencies in Image Management Careers have been adopted by AICI. She is the founder of Conselle L.C. and CEO and Director of the Conselle Institute of Image Management.

Judith earned a master’s degree specializing in the artistic, social, and psychological aspects of dress and image. With a passion for the work, this dynamic image consulting professional has decades of experience in the field as fashion and image educator, author, columnist, speaker, consultant, stylist, and video producer. She is active in her continued role as consumer advocate.

An international authority on image consulting and management, Judith is a presenter, consultant, and coach to private individuals, civic, corporate, government, and academic organizations & associations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Addressing the sensitive and often emotional issues of personal appearance, attitude, and etiquette, she is known to present more than 250 seminars in a single year.