Today we’d like to introduce you to Precious Jewel.
Hi Precious, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Prestige School of Protocol is not only an etiquette academy and finishing school that teaches etiquette and social graces to women, children, families, and organizations, but as a certified etiquette consultant, I also focus on womanhood, image, and strategy. For instance, I have worked with young ladies interested in joining top sororities at SEC schools. I have worked with junior and senior high school ladies whose parents wanted to prepare them for college. I have worked with families who want to strengthen their familial bond. I have worked with parents who want the best life outcomes for their children. I have worked with mothers of daughters who were interested in passing down lessons in girlhood and womanhood that they themselves were not taught. I have worked with spouses who do not have children yet but wanted to family plan, and I have even worked with women who wanted to make a lasting first date impression. Prestige School of Protocol operates a book club, a charm school for children and teens in the Toledo area, and four virtual charm schools: The Prestige Society for Minis, The Prestige Society for Teens, The Prestige Society for College Students (and HS Seniors), and The Prestige Society for Adult Women. Prestige School of Protocol has operated for almost three years. The school first launched in March 2021 after I received my certification from the International Association of Professions Career College the semester prior. This also happened to be the same semester I officially graduated with my bachelor’s degree at
The Ohio State University. Originally set to graduate from Ohio State in 2019, I had one class to take to graduate. Due to all courses being offered virtually during COVID, I took that class virtually while also studying etiquette and graduated from both schools at the same time. I began working with clients almost immediately. I first launched as a virtual-only school servicing mostly adult women in various states and other countries like South Africa. Before receiving my certification, I taught etiquette and social graces to young girls for years; I was just not officially certified yet. I would provide lessons to young girls and peers my age in the areas of poise and confidence. After being invited as a guest speaker at Ohio State University to speak on a topic called “Gearing Up for Success”, I realized etiquette was something I would like to teach long term to young girls. During the “Gearing Up for Success” event, I provided a lesson on proper attire for collegiate students entering the workforce. I spoke on the difference between casual, business casual, business professional, cocktail, and formal attire, and I absolutely loved it! A few students agreed to be my volunteers; I styled each of them to display the different wardrobe types.
When I first started Prestige School of Protocol, I first launched under the name “S&S” for “Style & Sophistication,” which was originally a blog. I’d write small essays on various womanhood topics. I’d receive many requests for new topics to write about, which encouraged me to discuss womanhood and femininity topics a lot more. One of my mentors recommended that I write a book about womanhood, and when I said I was not ready, she recommended that I get my certification in etiquette.
It was extremely easy for me to grow my clientele quickly because “etiquette,” “elegance,” and “femininity” were very popular buzzwords during COVID. I created content on Instagram, where I gained 2,000 followers in my first month. Most of those followers turned into clients, members of my virtual book club, and members of my virtual charm schools. I then joined TikTok, where I gained 50,000 followers (a few of them celebrities) in the first year, and Twitter, where I gained 2,000 followers. With a small scale of popularity, I was able to work with hundreds of clients, gain new book club members, and collaborate with beauty experts, fragrance strategists, and luxury experts for large companies like Tom Ford in New York and Louis Vuitton in Paris and other etiquette consultants for virtual events. I met other experts virtually, which connected me with the opportunity to receive mentorship from another etiquette consultant in the Detroit, Michigan, area. Being in the position I am in has been amazing because I receive so many emails, comments, and messages mentioning how much I have positively impacted women’s and girls’ lives. In a recent consultation, one of my clients shed tears. She stated that she never had a role model in her life to teach her the lessons that I provided, and that she was very grateful for me.
My clientele began to slow down a little because after two years, I decided to stop influencing. I also decided to stop marketing my services nationwide and start focusing on marketing my services to those in my area so that I may work with students, adults, schools, and groups in person. At first, I was nervous because I originally assumed that I did not have the demographic in the area that would actually be interested in my services. Because I have plenty of experience in event planning, I decided to take a leap of faith to plan our “Princess Tiara Fashion Show and Etiquette Tea” in February and March of 2024 for girls ages 4-11 to learn about confidence, social graces, and poise by being onstage at the Maumee Indoor Theatre. To my surprise, many have been very supportive of my school’s upcoming program. Local area businesses have donated so many amazing prizes for the winners our fashion show.
From boat rides to floral arrangements, luxury tea party picnics, and permanent bracelets from free passes for rock climbing classes, and so much more! Professional models, stylists, pageant directors, and pageant titleholders have also been very willing to give their time to serve as judges, mentors, and volunteers. This experience has made me realize that I should have begun in-person programming in Toledo a lot sooner.
In my programming, I also teach about being great role models to daughters, sisters, cousins, nieces, and granddaughters, so I, too, try to do that myself for the girls in my family. My goddaughter and little cousins mean so much to me, so occasionally, I would get them together to teach them different skills, and they love it! They constantly call and ask, “P, may you please host another tea party?” “P, can you please host another slumber party for us.” “P, can you please volunteer at my school for field day/field trip day? My friends at school love you!!!” “P, may we please do that activity where we balance the books on our heads and walk again?” It’s so lovely because children love learning. I’d host different gatherings for them in my home like tea parties, setting a table, how to write thank you letters/cards and mail them, and even self-care nights to teach the girls about self-care so that they do not struggle with it in adulthood.
I’d take photos teaching the girls tea etiquette, taking them to Macy’s for fragrance testing and learning fragrance etiquette, and of my latest purchases of vintage beauty magazines for the girls to read to me. My supporters/followers would love it all! I would either receive nice comments like “Your account is so therapeutic,” “Your page is healing my inner child,” “I wish you were in my area for my daughter,” “I wish you were my big sister,” or people who are in the Toledo area would message me to ask if they could hire me to meet them at the mall to teach their daughter’s fragrance etiquette or hire me for graduation parties to teach posture and walking demonstrations.
Growing up, I had a village of women who were very proactive about teaching my sister, cousins, and I about womanhood and made sure we received the opportunity to enjoy girlhood. As teens, my aunts would get my sister, cousins, and I together in my great aunt Brenda’s beauty salon to give us manicures, pedicures, hairdos, and facials. Another side of my family hosted princess parties for us as little girls, and during my teen years, my family would help me prepare for pageants I competed in. The experiences really shaped how I view girlhood and womanhood.
From influencing on social media, I realized many did not have these experiences. Many stated that they did not even receive the opportunity to enjoy girlhood because their parents made them grow up too quickly by being held responsible for things like caring for their siblings, so I’d use the feedback from social media to help develop programming in multiple areas, not just etiquette. For instance, one popular tweet said, “I did not have role models growing up. No one was there to teach me etiquette or to school me about men. My mom didn’t take me to get pedicures with her. I had to learn it all on my own.” Many women and girls were in the comments of that tweet, making statements about how they wished they had someone in their lives to teach them about strategy, etiquette, dating, confidence, and womanhood. When I posted video clips from television series during my time influencing on TikTok, many were always in the comments making statements like “I wish I had a mother like this” anytime I portrayed a more warm, nurturing, affectionate example of motherhood that many children (and adults still) crave.
The feedback, as well as a video clip that I shared on TikTok last year, inspired me to host my very first webinar, “Lessons from My Mother,” a tribute to the women in my family. Last year, I shared a 17-second video clip from the film “The Cheetah Girls” of Raven Symoné’s mother telling her to always pack comfortable shoes when she is wearing heels. I asked in the caption what lessons your mothers/grandmothers/aunts/big sisters taught you, and many provided such great feedback! Although there were such lovely comments, I also received comments like “My mother did not teach me much,” which presented me the idea to create “Lessons from My Webinar,” an introductory webinar to teach women and their daughters about fragrance etiquette, finding their signature scent, handbag etiquette, jewelry care, wardrobe must-haves, undergarment care, and other feminine and womanhood basics not every woman gets taught. The Lessons from my mother webinar registration was so successful that I was able to provide scholarships for a few teens and college students who could not afford to pay themselves due to the tips.
I received from clients when they purchased. The lesson received such great feedback, and one participant even reached out to join my virtual charm school because she loved the webinar so much.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were definitely struggles. Most came from social media, which is why I stopped influencing. Although 95% of my clientele are those in other states across the US and a few other countries, I decided to stop “influencing” to gain new clientele for several reasons. One, impersonation and theft. On Instagram, someone impersonated me. Luckily, my followers intervened early enough to stop that person from scamming and stealing money from my clients, but the situation made me cautious about the dangers of social media, which I now teach my clients about. Many, especially larger influencers, would also steal my work, ideas, verbiage, and talking points, which made it very difficult to remain on social media. Also, criticism. Criticism and gross remarks obviously come with the territory of being an influencer, whether micro (like me) or macro, so I did get accustomed to blocking users and deleting comments, but anytime I would go viral (and my videos would leave my side of the internet), I’d receive comments claiming that I encourage “respectability politics” “European standards” and “white-washed” ideals. Many have their preconceived ideas about how people should behave and anything that challenges their ideas.
(Etiquette, classy women of color, well-behaved children, and women who want the best in life, for instance) was met with disrespect. Etiquette is still seen as “respectability politics” to some so, myself and other black etiquette consultants, specifically, received many negative and even derogatory comments. I am great at ignoring negative remarks, but I also teach my clients about boundaries, self-preservation, standards, and rewarding others in your absence if you are met with disrespect or abuse. I had to practice the same notion that I teach, which meant leaving social media.
Lastly, influencing in my field is not easy. Although I received plenty of comments stating how I am the “Big sister I never had” to many people, older women included, sometimes I just wanted to give so many women and girls a great big hug. I have a very diverse audience and clientele, but when I received sad comments, they were always from black women and girls. I would occasionally post content related to family presentation and customs, education, or even dating etiquette, and many would say, “I wish I had someone in my life to teach me this” or “I wish I had someone in my life to do this for me.” Whether it is sharing a long-held family tradition, passing down a family heirloom, being treated with softness and gentleness by mothers, having someone to check their homework, or teaching them about dating and relationships so that the wrong dating decision would not impact a young woman’s livelihood and life trajectory, most comments I received were “I wish I had this.” Receiving these comments did not always put me in the best headspace. As a sentimental person with a soft spot for women and girls, they would make me emotional sometimes. The beautiful aspect of it all, however, is that I did get to be an online “big sister” to many women and girls, and because of it, I still get recommended by so many amazing people as the “to-go” person for certain topics. Although I am not “influencing” anymore (I did make new accounts with very small audiences to be able to still market my services), I do miss providing an online space of generational connectedness where women and girls all over the age spectrum could bond over the positive experiences of womanhood.
From bonding over family recipes to sharing familial traditions, I have always loved what I do. I am planning on creating the same experience in person now.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Prestige School of Protocol?
Prestige School of Protocol is a charm school, finishing school, and etiquette academy that specializes in etiquette, social graces, and customs for women, teens, collegiate students, and children and families. As a certified etiquette consultant, Precious has years of experience working with non-profits, youth organizations, schools, social clubs, restaurants, and corporate organizations, speaking on topics related to etiquette, social graces, image, womanhood, strategy, and other related topics.
Prestige School of Protocol specializes in dining, business, dating, social, children, and corporate etiquette.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Prestige School of Protocol also offers exclusive essays in the form of blogs that also catered towards making women more refined versions of themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://prestigeschoolofprotocol.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094285292116
