Connect
To Top

Meet Carolyn Mercury Powery of Prestige Etiquette & Image Consulting in West Palm Beach

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Mercury Powery.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Carolyn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up, my parents displayed the perfect blueprint for entrepreneurship.  Most of my life, my dad had several streams of income from businesses he operated and my mother became an entrepreneur at the age of 58, due to a layoff.

After working for 28 years as a counselor and looking forward to early retirement, in 2008, I was laid off.  My finances and lifestyle took a major hit when my income was reduced to an unemployment check of $275 a week.  At 48 years old, I was forced to begin job hunting.  I realized I was overqualified or aged out for most of the positions I was interested in.  Fearing I wouldn’t be able to maintain the lifestyle I was accustomed to, anxiety and depression set in.  Prior to my layoff, I started an afterschool pilot program for middle school girls, called Head to Toe Makeover, which became my plan B. 

I’ve realized that the great thing that came from my own layoff, was the rebirth of my love for entrepreneurship and my desire to dream again. God’s dreams were bigger than my dreams. Entrepreneurship was not something new, I always had some type of business on the side of my main job, but I had stop dreaming. I credit my parents with instilling good work ethics in me and the passion to create my own.  My dad taught me that anything is possible, that I can achieve whatever my heart desired and to not be afraid when life gives you a lemon. I also learned how to be a visionary, when things look impossible. My mother taught me no matter your age, you can start over at any time in your life.

As I began to take action by creating my vision on a vision board, I received confirmation that starting my etiquette business was the correct path. As I browsed through an Ebony magazine, I discovered pictures of a woman teaching children’s etiquette. I put those pictures on a vision board as inspiration to become certified as an etiquette consultant. I used my severance pay to finance my dream by receiving my certification from The Etiquette Institute and started my etiquette business, Prestige Etiquette and Image Consulting LLC, formerly known as The Etiquette Touch Charm School. 

I believe the stress of being laid off and starting the business had a physiological aspect that led to a diagnosis of Graves Disease.  I received treatment and continued to build my etiquette business. My perseverance paid off and soon after I was contacted by Southern Lady Magazine to feature my etiquette business in their March/April 2011 edition. Doors began to open which resulted me to becoming a contributing author to three books:

(1)  Poised Polished Professional, 2018.
Chapter Contribution – Communication Etiquette, Networking Etiquette, Social Media Etiquette, and Correspondence Etiquette.
(2)  Madam CEO: How to Think and Act Life a Chief Executive, 2011.
Chapter Contribution – Preparing Young Ladies to be Professional, Poised, and Polished.
(3)  Boys to Men: A Guide for African American Boys, 2012.
Chapter Contribution – Becoming a Gentleman.

I was a judge at the Miss Teen USA, Ms. USA Pageant, Miss Haiti International Pageant, and Miss Tennessee International. My dream of providing etiquette workshops for the pageant participants came true in 2018 and 2019, when I presented an etiquette seminar at the Miss Haiti International Pageant. 

In my Business Etiquette program, I teach my clients that proper business etiquette opens doors and closes deals. As a result of me being intentional and strategic about my brand perception, I was the recipient of the Legacy of South Florida 50 Most Powerful and Influential Business Leaders in 2018, Delia Strong 2010 Small Business Award, and the Glorious Ladies of Titus Conference Who’s Who Among Women in Leadership 2011 for my consulting firm continued services. 

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Entrepreneurship is not easy. However, my successes have outweighed the challenges and have allowed me the opportunity to grow as an entrepreneur. 

One obstacle that I had to overcome was my fear of public speaking. My desire was to be successful in my business. I researched top etiquette consultants and found commonalities among them as speakers, authors, and TV interviewees. I remember an opportunity presented itself for me to be filmed by MTV as I taught an etiquette class, and I declined the chance due to my fear of public speaking and self-doubt.  To combat my fear of speaking before an audience, I identified the areas that needed improvement, attended webinars, recorded myself, and began doing more speaking engagements. Continual practice and experience enabled me to become comfortable on stage.  I also recognized the value of being prepared because, in this industry, you never know when the media may call you for an interview. I remember when a Channel 12 news reporter requested an interview with me on Royal Wedding Etiquette, in preparation for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding. This was a huge opportunity to expand my brand and credibility. With a short notice, I had 30 minutes to make it happen. I’m happy to say I was part of that historic moment, to offer commentary on this exciting once in a lifetime event. My newfound self-confidence helped me to participate in interviews with ABC, NBC, CBS, and NBC 6 In The Mix. My highlight in print interviews were with the notable Necole Kane’s online XONecole platform for career women and millennial women. Another moment was having the opportunity for my etiquette business to be featured in Southern Lady Magazine. 

As a way of bringing together powerful like-minded women, I started a Facebook group called A Polished Professional. Its purpose is to help ambitious female entrepreneurs and career women exude a poised, polished and professional presence with class.

In April 2017, I officially opened the doors to my etiquette school allowed more business opportunities and professional growth.

A second lesson I learned as an entrepreneur is to always protect myself regardless of how well I may know a person. Always have contracts in place and to not allow my emotions to get in the way. I lost a hefty monetary investment by neglecting legalities. A third lesson I learned was to see the value in myself and not allow others to devalue what I bring to the table. I learned to charge what I am worth. 

A fourth lesson is learning to say “no”. Being a “yes” person to every opportunity will cause distraction and take you off your game. At one point, I decided to include another business opportunity to enhance growth.  I began putting more energy in that business than into my etiquette business. A light bulb went off and I made the decision to put the same effort or more into my etiquette business and to only focus on that until it was at the level I envisioned.

Lessons Learned:  inhale confidence and exhale self-doubt, fear and negative thoughts. 

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?.
I am the founder and CEO of Prestige Etiquette and Image Consulting, a finishing school of personal development serving Palm Beach County, South Florida and nationally. Our areas of focus are etiquette, image and personal branding. Services are presented in the form of coaching and consulting. Our clients have a choice of one on one coaching, lunch and learn, workshops, classes and seminars. 

I provide coaching and consulting services to entrepreneurs and business professionals in the finer points of business etiquette and the importance of personal branding.  My clients are professionals, female entrepreneurs, college students, teens, and children.  I’m available for conferences, universities, schools, nonprofits, for-profits, and corporations.  Whether my clients are seeking promotions, improving their image, connecting with their ideal client, improving their online presence, networking with impact, seeking college admission, or finessing a business meal. I help my clients to outclass the competition by setting themselves apart with a poised, polished, and professional presence, creating a first impression that gets them noticed.

What I am most proud of as a company, is our ability to provide a solution to our clients challenges and getting the positive results they are seeking in their personal and professional lives. My first success story involves a client who has shown tremendous improvement, in increasing her confidence, social skills, communication skills and job interviewing skills. When you are coachable, you will get results. This client recently landed a job paying $75,000 dollars annually, after completing private business etiquette sessions with my company.  A second success story is the excitement of hearing a father share how much knowledge his daughters learned from attending an etiquette class with my company. A third success story is having the opportunity impact the lives of college students in our Classroom to the Boardroom class designed to prepare college students for the job market. A final success story is when one of my clients was struggling with networking. As a result, this client took the initiative and challenged herself by attending a networking event by traveling from West Palm Beach to Miami. Seeing this client step out her comfort zone and utilize the tools she learned from The Entrepreneur’s Blueprint to Networking. was epic. 

What sets me apart from others. 

I bring a special perspective to my consultancy practice. My clients are given an assessment to assess their personal and professional needs. I customize programs to specifically address their individual needs.

My mission is to provide ambitious female entrepreneurs and business professionals with the skills and tools needed to position their personal and professional brands for success. Equipping themselves with business etiquette will give them have a competitive edge, polish their professional presence, increasing their influence, authority and credibility.

As a former family counselor, I am able to positively impact children, teens and young adults from a diverse array of backgrounds because of my extensive work with teens and young adults for over three decades. I have been strategic in my program development for today’s media-savvy youth and millennials, creating programs to assist them in achieving success socially, academically and professionally. I am engaging, passionate, personable, and know how to relate to others in a method that makes my clients comfortable and receptive to my message.

I am Certified in Business Etiquette, Social Etiquette, Communication Etiquette, Dining Etiquette and Children’s Etiquette. I am school board approved for Palm Beach County School Board. 

Etiquette programs include:

The Entrepreneur’s Blueprint to Networking
Business Etiquette Pays Dividends
Impacting your Social Media Presence with Dominance
Finesse A Business Meal with Confidence
Powerful Techniques for a Professional Presence
Brand A Bold You
Dress to Impress
Interviewing with Confidence
And more!

As an added service, I am excited to incorporate my passion and love for decor and design. Style Me Partea offers high-top tables and table rental covers for any occasion. As an accent piece, our Majestic Rose Collection floral design in a box will create the perfect decorum for any occasion.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Palm Beach County in South Florida is a great city to start and grow your business. Since the start of my business in 2008, opportunities beyond my imagination have been possible, connecting with local, national and international brands. I have seen the growth of entrepreneurship explode. I find startups and other businesses to be very active and the level of participation in events is pretty high once you get to know the leaders and businesses of the community and its surrounding area.

As an added bonus, the expansion of social media provided access to a plethora of support groups, webinars, conferences, networking events, classes, and workshops from virtually anywhere in the world.

Pricing:

  • Etiquette Books $21.32

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Demarcus Bowser Photography, Carolyn Powery

Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in