We recently connected with Elise McVeigh and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Elise thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I launched Elise McVeigh’s Life Camp seminar company around the time my second son was born in 2001. I had put together a church retreat for young moms. The talks I had were all related “How to Get Your Groove Back” as a mom. Meaning do not get lost in being a mother. Make sure you keep your identity and keep on doing things for yourself.
Shortly after this retreat I heard a speaker talk about finding what you should be doing in life. I realized that I love public speaking, and wanted to pursue this as a career. I asked someone I knew who was in public speaking how to get started. She told me to pick some topics, and that she would let organizations know about me.
The first speaking “gig” I got was at a church. I probably got paid about $50.00 and I think about 7 people showed up. I begged people to let me speak for a while, and then finally I became known as an established speaker.
One of the topics that I was speaking on was etiquette. At one of the speeches a mom suggested I have a manners camp for kids. This is how my second company called Mrs. McVeigh’s Manners was born.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Elise McVeigh’s Life Camp seminar company focuses on the topics of Etiquette and Getting Organized. We help young adults and adults with their manners and social skills through talks and private coaching.
Mrs. McVeigh’s Manners has put thousands of children, ages 3-11, through our fun and interactive manners and getting organized classes. We have over 65 lessons with original workbooks, coloring books, storybooks, videos, and games.
Anyone who has gone through our classes, or who has sent their child through our classes, has said that it has made such a big difference in their life. You can be the smartest person in the room, but if you do not have basic manners and social skills, you will struggle to be successful in life.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I think so many business owners will say that they had to pivot during Covid. Mrs. McVeigh’s Manners was no exception. Here we were at the height of our in-person classes. I had 12-15 instructors working for me. We had classes in multiple schools in Dallas; Lovejoy; and Frisco, as well as several other venues. I finally had reached my goal of expanding outside of Dallas, and was so excited about the progress that we were making. Then Covid hit, and the world shut down. I had to figure out a way so that I did not have to cut the classes off (and refund everyone’s money). That is when I learned how to use Zoom, and how to make the classes come to life with graphics and extensive designs. We went online, and because of the graphics that I had to create, once Covid was over, I made my in-person classes even better.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I was a Journalism major in college, and worked for several small newspapers before starting my business. I started my business before social media, so I needed to find a way to market my services. I came up with the idea of a regular newspaper column about etiquette. At the time I was the president of my local preschool association. The education reporter from the Dallas Morning News came out to one of our events. I more or less pitched her two ideas for a column. One was a manners advice column. The other was about getting organized. (The two topics that I speak on to adults, and teach to children.) She said a new insert was being added by the Dallas Morning News, and gave me the editor’s contact information. I pitched her the ideas, and the weekly Mrs. McVeigh’s Manners advice column was born.
This column branded me as a manners expert, and gave me extensive name recognition. It was the best marketing tool that I could have ever asked for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mrsmcveigh.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsmcveighsmanners/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-mcveigh-2a8992a
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsmcveigh?lang=en