Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Class, anyone? Etiquette, anyone? Manners, anyone?


Class, anyone? Etiquette, anyone? Manners, anyone?

By: Natascha ‘Career Coach’ Saunders
President, The Youth Career Coach Inc.
Former Miss Black Rhode Island USA

Is it just me or do you see the need for etiquette or cotillion classes? Over this past month some women, I've notice: tend to say things at inappropriate times in public, put things on social media that clearly should be kept private or at the very least posted with wisdom (such as blasting out parents, children, men etc.).

Does anyone have any filters? Where is the class?

The other day I had spoken up because someone said my modeling school, ‘Barbizon’, was a waste of money without even knowing the curriculum, their teachers nor did they know that I graduated from Barbizon and was trained to teach their curriculum. 



All I know is my mother enrolled me in Barbizon during my middle school years, NOT to become a model or an actor but to help build my self-esteem,  teach me basic etiquette, class, communication, proper make-up, sitting, standing, listening, vulgarity when is it appropriate, relationships with other girls, smiling, shaking hands, etc. (Note: I did become Miss Black Rhode Island USA. Click here to learn more about the Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant.)

“The Barbizon experience is about discovering what makes you special, and developing your one-of-a-kind "star" quality for the whole world to see. Their expert modeling and acting training, along with life-skills instruction, will give you the confidence and tools to shine for a lifetime.” ~ http://www.barbizonmodeling.com/index.php

These are skills I’ve used ever since. I want to stand out as the ‘Youth Career Coach’. I want to be the best of the best. I want anyone and everyone that works with me to become an expert in their field, to be confident in who they are, shine, stand out and have a brand like no other. So is there something wrong with having someone help you?

I had two of my most memorable teachers Ms.Claire Williams and Ms. Smiler Questel Haynes (my first teacher of color). Ms. Claire Williams was a true diva – the first women I saw in 4 inch heels with a proper length pencil skirt! When I was going through Barbizon, my family had a fire in our home, and I lost everything and I mean everything. Ms. Williams showed up to my door at Academy Homes, in Roxbury, MA with a bag of clothes. Talk about teaching me to walk in grace despite the wearing of used clothes over and over again ‘before it was cool’. 

Ms. Haynes (picture on your left, in yellow) was the epitome of class and I'm grateful to her for teaching me how to be a lady. As a brown skin girl - she was - what I wanted to be like every Saturday morning I went to class.

I am NOT perfect, nor do I claim to be but I'm proud to have a mom and dad that provided me some tools to help distinguish me from the rest and teach me etiquette. If I was too loud in public all my dad had to do was look at me and I knew to calm down, relax and talk – because after all the person was standing right in front of me. lol

I realize my focus is ‘careers and vision’ but goodness gracious....I kept my Barbizon Curriculum (as I was trained to teach by Barbizon, following in the footsteps of Ms. Haynes) and I have no problem dusting it off and bringing this training to young women of color.

Let's step it up, our brand depends on it! Let’s show some stylish class and excellence!

In service, 

Natascha ‘Career Coach’ Saunders

No comments:

Post a Comment