Reprinted with permission by Westchester Magazine

Please Pass the Sugar, Ma'am
October, 2004

By JOHN BRUNO TURIANO

When Melissa Leonard's mom saw an ad for an etiquette training school and suggested that teaching etiquette would make a great career "especially for a married woman with children," Leonard, then 21 and single, laughed at her mother's advice. "I just finished college. I can't fathom being married with kids and having a career in teaching etiquette."

Today, married with two children, Leonard, 30, is an etiquette and protocol consultant.

"Good manners give you a greater sense of confidence and authority, and they help you handle awkward situations with ease," says the Harrison resident, who attended the Protocol School of Washington in D.C.

Leonard says she specializes in "corporate, dining and yachting etiquette," and teaches dining and yachting etiquette to children and young adults. Costs range from $300 to the "low thousands," depending on the number of students and the time required.

Leonard assures that her seminars and not stuffy, but fun and dynamic. "I have people come up and role-play potentially awkward situations. What I do is not finishing school."