Today we’d like to introduce you to Elise McVeigh.
Elise, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After my third son was born in 2003, I wanted to do something outside of the house. I always had a passion for public speaking, so a friend of who was a prominent speaker told me to pick some topics and helped me get started speaking. Etiquette (and getting organized) were the two topics that were the most requested. While speaking to some moms about etiquette, someone in the audience suggested that I have a children’s manners camp.
I had no teaching experience (my background is Journalism and fundraising), but I pieced a camp together and got a few children to sign up. My camps really started to catch on after I successfully pitched a weekly etiquette advice column to the Dallas Morning News. This helped launch me as an “expert” in the media, and I now have clients and requests for interviews all over the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Owning this business for almost 20 years has definitely not been a smooth road. Sending your children to a manners camp is a luxury for most parents, so my business ebbs and flows with the economy. Covid was obviously the greatest challenge, but it was helpful in the way that I now offer online classes. Overall, I have to constantly pivot on what we offer. After-school classes were very popular before Covid, and now we have a huge demand for private classes. So, I am constantly evaluating what direction we should go in.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What sets us apart is our very specialized curriculum. We have about 70 different lessons. Each lesson is part of an original storybook. Workbook, coloring book, short videos, and games. Our curriculum is very fun and interactive and is not stuffy at all. We make learning manners a lot of fun with our cast of characters that help reiterate the material that the children are learning. Our materials are colorful and age-appropriate. I personally spend a lot of time working to make the material fresh and innovative.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I have learned that with every obstacle there is a positive that will come out of it. We went from in-person to online classes. Now that we are having in-person classes again, I have made them even better with the tools that I use for the online classes.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mrsmcveigh.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsmcveighsmanners/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrsMcVeighsManners
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-mcveigh-2a8992a/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrsMcVeigh
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mrs.mcveighsmagnificentman5069
