About Our Founder &Creative Director

Yalanda Rene Jacques
Founder & Creative Director,
Polished Beauties

INSTAGRAM:

 
@yalandarenejacques

Yalanda Rene Jacques is a Beauty Expert, Actress/Producer, Motivational Speaker, and Veteran of the U.S, Air Force who has over 25 years of combined experience in the beauty, fashion, TV/entertainment & image development industries.

As the Founder/Owner and Creative Director of Polished Beauties, her focus is in giving women the style essentials they need to feel confident and look fabulous.

Yalanda is the epitome of the polished woman, having changed her own image and life after growing up on a farm on the rural roads of East Texas surrounded by farm life until the age of 12 years old. Her mother was a very accomplished seamstress in the community, so after chores she'd immerse herself in the fashion pages of Vogue, Texas Monthly, and Town & Country magazines left around the house by her mother, .

As a teenager she  attended the Barbizon School of Modeling to learn poise, posture, and basic etiquettes for life, which helped her understand that anyone can change and design their own image with the right tools and encouragement. 

After high school Yalanda joined the US Air Force and spent several years serving her country in the U.S. with the 20th and 16th Special Operations Squadrons, and in Germany with the 17th Air Force HQ for NATO USAFE. It was during this time in Europe  that she nurtured her love for travel.

Yalanda's retail management experience includes work for beauty and luxury giants Neiman Marcus, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and L'Occitane. And as an entrepreneur she founded Jacques Models, Inc. which managed over 400 models & talent of every ethnicity, while also breaking barriers trying to create opportunities for models of color. 

She founded JabberMouth Entertainment Productions, and produced an entertainment lifestyle TV show about happenings in Miami; then in Dallas, TX produced "The VIP System Makeover Program", an instructional makeup & self-esteem DVD for young women. The VIP System  was produced years before millions of makeup videos became popular on Instagram and YouTube, branding her a true visionary.

Yalanda has been profiled by some of the most prestigious news and fashion magazine publications in the U.S.: Ocean Drive Magazine, The Miami Herald Newspaper, and the South Florida Business Journal. In addition, she's made guest appearances on  MTV's Tr3s Quiero Mis Quince as an Image Coach; hosted live on-air fundraisers for PBS TV on WXEL; and as an accomplished speaker- MC/Hosted a royal Dubai black-tie charity event co-sponsored by Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Her selections for the website are empowered from a personal knowledge of being around beauty, fashion, luxury, culture and having traveled to over 22 different countries.

That willingness to learn and evolve ensures the products on Polished Beauties will always be classic, fashionable, but most importantly an unforgettable ride.

Yalanda has spent many years giving back by doing motivational speaking, and teaching image development workshops for churches, women's groups, and non-profit organizations like The Boys and Girls Clubs.