Trading Secrets - 308. The Business of Etiquette: Myka Meier on Modern Manners, Networking, Dating & Building a Million-Dollar Brand

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

What do King Charles, Fortune 10 executives, modern dating, and networking all have in common? Etiquette. This week on Trading Secrets, Jason Tartick sits down with renowned etiquette expert, author, entrepreneur, and founder of Beaumont Etiquette, Myka Meier. From training CEOs, diplomats, and high-profile leaders to modernizing etiquette for today's digital world, Myka shares why emotional intelligence and soft skills may be the most valuable currency in the age of AI. Myka opens up about her unlikely journey from Sarasota, Florida, to becoming one of the world's leading etiquette authorities, the business behind luxury etiquette training, and how she built a global brand serving Fortune 500 companies, government leaders, and individuals looking to gain confidence in both business and life. Whatnot Whatnot is the largest dedicated live shopping platform, whether it’s beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury fashion — even cookies — sellers are building real, thriving businesses. Download Whatnot in the App store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by one of the world's leading etiquette experts and the founder of Beaumont Etiquette, Micah Meyer. Now etiquette may sound old school to some people, but Micah has completely modernized the conversation around manners, professionalism, confidence in how we present ourselves socially and professionally in today's world. From teaching executives and celebrities to appearing across major television networks and building a global brand online, Micah has turned etiquette into a thriving business, even involving the next generation, creating a future of well-mannered business leaders. Today, we're talking about the business of etiquette, building a luxury brand, social media culture, networking, modern dating behavior, money, class, perception, and more, and why etiquette might matter now more than ever in a world dominated by phones and social media. Micah, welcome to trading secrets.

Thank you so much for having me. I love all of those topics. I'm so excited. It's amazing. And just another one to add in there. We have a Bravo Queen here. Let's go, ladies in London. I mean, what don't you do, Micah? But I got to tell you this topic, when I found out that we were getting you on, I am so excited. Because all those things, from dating to money to splitting bills, to the change in traditions. Also, just even the idea of finishing school. Who goes to finishing school? What it costs? I have a million questions. And so for all of our listeners, trust me, you're going to get answers that you're going to be curious about too. But before we get into that, what was, I mean, what I think is so cool is when I hear about etiquette training, the first place I go is to Rose Dawson from Titanic in first class, having her mom yell at her, wanting to go party with Jack. And that's where my head goes, right? And I think about, is that still a thing? And what I think is so cool is that you're from a middle-class family, right, in Florida. You now have dual citizenship. But talk to me about what in the heck happened that your career went from, you know,

growing up in Florida, going to college in Florida, and now being a global etiquette expert talking on all things like the royal family and beyond. Sure. So it is kind of a wild ride. But I, you know, my upbringing was Sarasota, Florida. My dad's from Barbados, immigrated in. my mom's from Boston. And I grew up with no formal training in etiquette, but my parents were so good about kindness and saying, you know, well, if this little boy doesn't have a toy, you give him a toy.

You know, if that person's sitting alone, you invite them. So we were really big into kindness in our family. But then I went to University of Florida, graduated. The day I graduated, moved to New York City. I couldn't wait for the action. And I was working five jobs and met my now. now husband who at the time, Swahy Swiss, he was, you know, he was the one actually that said, I think you need etiquette training, which at the time, that's the last thing you want the person you're dating to say to you. But it turned out to be, he really, he loved me and he wanted good things for me. And you could see that in business, I was struggling. And my first etiquette course actually came out of a deep insecurity of not knowing which four.

knife, how to host somebody. I was told at my workplace, I insulted my client by introducing him in the wrong way. So all of these things were impacting my career. So my first etiquette course was completely out of insecurity. And I learned, I went, and I was mind blown at what I learned in that first session. And I never looked back. It's so interesting to me how like miscommunications can happen verbally from the words you say that are just misinterpreted or the nonverbals. What were, like, when you talk about misintroducing someone or some of the etiquette training that your husband suggested that you'd get, talk to me about someone like, give me a specific example of something that's set your now husband off to say,

hey, you should look into this. Like, talk to me about the foundation. Give me an example. Right. Okay. So if you are introducing a client, right, that's the VIP person in the situation. And if I'm introducing my colleague, so I want them to, meet, then the person with a VIP status, their name comes first. So I would say, Jason, may I introduce my

colleague, Airy? So that means you are the more VIP person than my colleague in that situation. So in many and many cultures and many business situations, this is crucial. Email etiquette, it's the same. The most VIP person's name comes first. Dear Jason and Abby, that means Jason. is more VIP than Abby. So that was one example. Also, holding your silverware correctly, you might think, okay, I know how to do this. This is easier. Why does that even matter? But I can look across the table now. I couldn't then, but I could look across the table and know who has been trained in formal etiquette just by the way they're holding their silverware. And what that means, it's not about being pretentious. It's not about trying to look a certain way.

It's about showing respect to everyone at the table by using the more formal or polite way to hold your silverware. So it's less messy. You can have great conversation. You can close the business deal instead of fumbling with your silverware. So it's actually all about respect. Everything about etiquette's about respect. Okay. That's kind of the next question I was going to ask.

And I still want to touch on the next question, which is there will be people that listen to this podcast that understand the 101s of etiquette. the please, the thank yous, be kind, be gracious. But we'll listen to this and it might have some skepticism. Like, what does this actually do? Like if I, okay, if I'm doing, you know, I can tell you right now, I know my listener audience, there are going to be some of them there listen. So you're telling me if I don't properly introduce someone based on their VIP status, they're not going to do the deal with me. You know what? I don't want to do the deal with someone like that. Today in this whole episode, we're going to break down all these nuances and I can't wait. Before we do, sell my listeners. Tell them more about why these small things matter in their personal life, in their

business life, their financial life, like give them the selling point to keep them around for the rest of this episode. And these are the things I've got to know and why. Okay. So the economy told us that for the last 15 years, it was STEM. Stem, STEM, STEM, STEM, is what we need to focus on if you want to succeed in business. Now it is the opposite. So nowadays with AI, now your emotional intelligence, how you connect with people, compassion, respect in the workplace is the most important part of your job. Jamie Diamond just interviewed a month ago, and they asked him with AI, what's the future of the workplace?

People looking for jobs, what should they be concerned about? His answer, emotional intelligence. How do you learn it? These are soft skills. They used to be called soft skills. Now they are replacing hard skills. This is what will differentiate you. Etiquette, training, social skills, your emotional intelligence.

That is what matters. And the good news is that you can learn these skills. So if you can bottle these skills, which we kind of do at Beaumont Etiquette, you can elevate every level of your career. Sold. Sold. I got goosebumps from that answer. I think what you just said is so critical, especially right now. You know, you're looking at youth unemployment right now because they're being takeout by AI. AI is outpacing our productivity. What AI can't do is what humans can do. The conversation, the way we make people feel, no robot can ever replace that. I am so sold on that answer. I love it. Okay, let's keep this conversation going. So you attend a finishing school. Now, for everyone listening, I didn't know what a finishing school was until I prepared for this interview. It's in Switzerland. I'm going to see if I get this pronunciation right. Everyone knows that my phonetics are trashed on trading secrets, but it's the Institute Villa Pierrefa. Pierre. Yes. Pierre Fu. I VP. Okay. So first of all, why don't we first talk about what is a finishing school? Who goes? What is a cost to go? Finishing school is a kind of an old

traditional institution where people would traditionally go on and live on campus and you would be polished to perfection from the way you would dress, interact with other people, the way you would eat. Every part of your life would be critiqued. Now, I went there, not for those reasons. I went there to learn so that I could modernize it and bring it to career people. So, you know, I think nowadays, you know, it is, it is an advantage. But I think that a modern, I teach modern finishing, uh, in terms of communication. Now, finishing programs can range anywhere from 10,000 upward to 70,000 USD, depending on how long you stay in the finishing school. How long is school typically?

Like on the low end of 10,000 to 70,000, how long is this school? I mean, one week would be 10,000. And then you're looking, if you want to stay for a summer, you're looking at 75,000, 80,000 if you want private accommodation and all the bells and whistles. And then I have to assume those that are going to finishing school are, my assumption would be you're in a massive power at a large corporation, politics, business leadership, or you come from extreme wealth where this has an impact on like the family's legacy. Is that correct?

Correct. And we were not told anybody else's last names because that could be a princess sitting next to you. It could be a politician. It could be. And so we just wanted, they want us to connect just on human level to learn together. And then on the last day, you graduate and you find out that's a princess that was with me the whole time. And now my network, we still have a group chat. We on WhatsApp, we stay together.

But my experience from that, I took. the things that I loved about it, which were a lot. And then I created my own finishing program. And I made it virtual and I modernized it. And it is meant for career people. Interesting. Okay. So many thoughts here. When you're talking about modernizing etiquette, I think in 2026. I'm going to ask specific examples here soon. But we've definitely seen this shift. We've seen the shift in some business leaders are online cussing 24-7 and it's like their brand. we see politicians in the United States throw every form of etiquette out the door. How is that being perceived and then how is it changing the value of showcasing etiquette when we see

top leaders in the world, you know, just kind of ignore the traditions of some of these things. Like, what does that mean for the future of etiquette? You know, I think the interesting part here is that my team always says I'm the secret weapon behind some of the most powerful political figures you see. And the reason why some of them are in the positions they are is because it's a person like me standing behind them, guiding them, telling them what to say, telling them who to meet, how to meet that person, how to host that person. So I think a lot of people don't have that guidance, the ones that are massively successful. I think internationally and have the greatest amount of respect, have either a team or a person

like me or me, specifically behind them. Amazing. Okay, let's tier this out a little bit. So the people that are working with you at the most powerful levels in the world, there's obviously, like I'll call it the top tier forms of etiquette and the things that you would probably suggest those people do to differentiate them in a room of people that know etiquette. Let's start with the tier one.

We'll call them that the top tier, the most powerful, the people that you're sitting side by side with. What are some of the big pieces of advice you're giving? them as it relates to etiquette in these settings that will differentiate them amongst the people that are there that have formalized training that knows some of these different tactics and plays to showcase this etiquette. So two of my clients are on the Fortune 10 list and an additional six on the Fortune 50 list. The things they want to know are things like this. When we are greeting, the biggest client we have, how do we make them feel incredible? How do we make them feel incredible? How do we

them feel so respected in every way. So, for example, we can look at the White House. When we see the most VIP guests come to the White House, the president, the first lady, meet them on the lawn to welcome them or in front of the White House. Then when you see the meetings happen in the Oval Office, those people aren't as VIP. And that is a whole master plan of protocol that goes into this plan. Same thing at a company. So when your VIPs come in the door, how do you greet them? How do we cater to their every single need? It could be hosting when you go to these massive events. The most VIP person sits to the right of the most VIP person.

So I'm the CEO of the company. The most VIP person in my life in business goes to my right. So even the seating charts we work on, the protocol of sitting in a car. If I'm a CEO and I'm with my VIP, there's an actual place in the car that the VIP sits in the car to show respect. so that when you pull up to the event, the car door opens and that VIP person is the first person to come out of the car. So all of these tiny little tiny, they seem very, very tiny, but when you put them all together, they make people feel incredible. We invoke positive emotion. It connects these people and they become irreplaceable in terms of their relationship. It's fascinating. Those are some of the specifics of top-tier political powers and leaders.

Let's talk about something that's universal, but also impacts those top-tier people. I love seeing the clips of when you have two very powerful people shake a hand. It's fascinating. You can study how these people shake hands. But that's also universal. Every single person here listening today shakes a hand, maybe on a day-to-day basis, maybe it's for an interview, maybe it's a client, maybe it's a date, maybe it's a friend. When we start with a handshake, what are some things we should know as it relates to etiquette with a handshake?

Number one rule, always stand to show respect. You must stand. No sitting. Even if some comes around a boardroom table, you never sit and look up. You always stand regardless of your gender. Next, it is the middle of this web of your hand, your right hand, meets the web of the other person's hand. It's two shakes in business or three or more. It's a little bit social.

So one, two, like that, straight to business. Then if you do this, be careful. This is a power play. This means I'm in charge of you. under to the side, this is a power play. So you want to be very, very careful of using that power play. We teach that to our lawyers and our negotiation tactics courses. These are things you have to be careful of because you don't want to say, I'm in charge of you, if you are not.

You would never do that to your boss, for example, if you're out there listening and you think, how is this relevant to me? It's about the firmness. Your handshake is your physical signature. So if you have a weak, limp handshake, what does that say about you? It's your physical signature. So those are all the things. What if someone is doing the power play on you and they shouldn't be?

Do you course correct it? Do you do it back? Like if you feel like you're in a position of, let's say, like, you guys are at the same level and someone's trying to, quote, unquote, trump you by doing that. How do you actually respond to that in a handshake? I would advise that you ignore it. I think it's bad etiquette to correct bad etiquette, which in that case, putting your hand on top of that person's,

would try, it kind of looks like you are trying to prove a point when really the more elegant option would be just to discontinue the handshake and then pull out another powerplay later on, which could be walking into the door and saying, please, after you. Because you're showing, you're showing, please, I'm your host. I'm the powerful one here. You walk in first. I will follow you because I'm telling you where to go. So I have all these different power plays that if that does happen to you, that's okay. Ignore it. Don't make it a big deal. Then the next. next power play is yours. I'm going to teach you how to do that. Two questions I got for you on the handshake and then we could wrap the handshake talk. I did hear a rumor once that if you come,

if someone gives you a handshake where they come over the top with you, as opposed to like rate on, you're supposed to take their hand and bring it back to equilibrium or back to, I guess, vertical stance. Is that true? If you can, if you can. But if that person is going horizontally, they might be very awkward to twist their hand. I probably would just go in if it felt gentle and easy to naturally twist back, sure, but I would not force it. I think anything that looks forced becomes performative and then can actually do a disservice to you. Okay.

And the last question, I got the handshake, the pat on the shoulder. You see that often. The handshake pat on the shoulder. Is that condescending? Is that patronizing? Is that friendly? How should we internalize that? I would say it depends.

on who it is. If these are old friends, it is friendly. If this is to a younger person, somebody more junior, it's patronizing. I think it really, it's very situational. I would not do it to anybody more VIP than me. It would have to be two people at the same status, same exact status for that to actually work and come off in a good way. All right. For all my trading secrets listeners, this is a little tease as to we'll get into more of these specifics. So stay tuned for that. It's coming. What you should wear. How you should be on a date, all the money, tips and tricks. These are coming. Before we get into it, Mike, I got to hear about how does someone get into a position like this, right? So we talked about being from Florida. You got

involved because your husband was like, go get some etiquette training. You get formally trained. And now you are training millions of people online. You are hired by some of the biggest institutions and countries to train. And you're working with the most powerful people, those that like we said, like the queen or presidents of different countries, how do you get in a position like this? How do you rise in the top where you've earned so much credibility and respect with these people? You learn. You study. You immerse yourself. You have to be passionate about it. You don't do it for money. You do it because you love it and you really, really believe in it. And then you study and you study and you study until you are really mastering and you feel like you can

not only master it, but then you can teach it. I actually started to train the trainer program. where I teach every year 50 people in one class per year virtually from all over the world. This year we have 32 countries, 50 people, 32 countries where I teach you how to become an etiquette trainer. So you graduate and then we give you all the tools to start your own consultancy essentially. That's amazing. So you can go through your courses and then you graduate. You become an etiquette trainer. If someone becomes an etiquette trainer on their own at the low end, what does it look like from an income perspective? And on the high end, if they keep working their way up, what does that look like? You know, some of our starting trainers are at 25,000, 30,000. When they first start,

it takes time to build credibility, to build that client base. And often they do it part time. And then sort of by year two, you're really seeing that buildup. We have trainers now that report $300,000, $400,000 incomes. I mean, when you're really in the business, you really get good. You really are getting that retained business, those fortune clients. You're looking, well into the millions. Well into the millions. This is a topic that I have to deal with every day on this podcast. And it's kind of the foundation of this podcast. So I won't be offended. I'm just curious. My theory with a lot of the content I do or even this trading secrets is that in the school system, we really weren't taught much about money. We weren't taught much about career navigation.

And one of the best ways that we can learn is by talking about it. Like how much did you pay for things? How much did you earn? Talking about money is always been. faux paw. What is your take on the etiquette of talking about money, whether it be with your partner, whether it be with colleagues, whether it be with friends or on a podcast like this, how do you enter into some of those pre-existing faux pauses that could actually serve as a massive benefit to us? I think you have to know, you have to really know the time is right and the place is right and the person is right. And to be open to that, I think it's, it's, you know, if you could even ask somebody, You know, I'm curious about this.

Please let me know if you're not comfortable talking about this. You could even be directing communication like that. I think that I love talking about money. I think it's so interesting. I think in the etiquette space, I would never put somebody in a position where I would say, how much do you make? You know, if we're not in a conversation about this,

it feels very, and I've had people ask me that, just out of the blue. So how much you make in this business where we're not even talking in a, about an industry and just random conversation? And that's uncomfortable. I think it's, that's emotional intelligence right there. And what I want to say is come to my class and we'll talk about it after. Because that is what's important. You really have to know. It's body language. It's eye contact. Or is the person darting. Are they uncomfortable? You have to be able to read body language to understand if this is an acceptable conversation or not. But I think that money generally is is a really important thing to talk about. You just have to know and feel at the space and the person. is right to talk about it. So it's like it's kind of like a dance a little bit, right? Like it's like it's like creating that safe space. And sometimes it feels like it's not about the words you say.

It's how you package them and what type of bow you put on them. And that can lead to an inviting conversation that would, you know, meet the etiquette standard is what I think that's what I'm hearing. Does that feel right? That is exactly right. And I think, for example, if you're thinking, how does this apply to me at home? If you're going out to a dinner this weekend with a group of friends and, it's talking about it. Are we splitting the bill? Are we, how are we doing this? You can absolutely have those conversations ahead. And it shouldn't, it shouldn't feel awkward if that is important to you.

I think it's just how, when, where, and bringing it up in a way that is more a community topic and less, you know, one that causes people to become defensive. You speak about this stuff on Good Morning America, Today Show internationally. You consult on it with some of the largest companies. You now have an educational program where you could train. people to do this, what is the number one biggest challenge you have in your day-to-day job? I would say finding instructors that have the highest level of training where I can get a call and know that there is a plane leaving in the morning for a government individual. And I know that I can put that person on that plane and they're going to be able to do it. And it's not me.

It's got to be somebody that has my education and that it's, It's replacing me essentially. It's training the knees. So I don't have to be in all 50 places in one month. Yeah, that honestly feels like a commonality amongst many leaders in all different industries. It's like, how do you replace the person that feels irreplaceable? What about Gen Zs? Like, it feels like, you know, on social media, the people we follow on Gen Zs that are becoming very popular. I don't want to speak for the whole generation. But it does feel like their entire disposition, at least in the States, is a lot more lax. It's a lot less traditional. Do you have a tough time getting Gen Zs to buy into etiquette training and making sure on a day-to-day basis there is value in that? I think I used to. I think now I have trainers who are also Gen Z, which I think really helps. But I think we pair with pop culture. We use references. We use stories. We really do kind of come to their level of communication. And I think that's what is key. We make it relevant to them. We're not teaching.

things that they're not using. And I think once they learn these little techniques and implement them, they're like, wow, I had no idea. And that's our job, really. I love it. We'll get into some of those techniques for your business, which of them generates the best revenue source for you, the most opportunity for growth? Because you have so many different businesses within this space. Definitely corporate. This is something where, I mean, think about all of the retail, all the luxury, all the aviation, hospitality, banks, every single online company in the world that is a certain level of growth, requires some sort of soft skills training. And Beaumont etiquette used to be a small consultancy and think about McKinsey. We're the McKinsey of soft skills training.

Whether it's a deal, steal, or putting more cash flow back in your pocket, you guys know I'm always keeping my eyes open for you. And what I got to tell you is you got to download. the What Not app. Now in preparation for my Europe travel, I bought five pieces from the WhatNot app, probably on average, about 20% what the retail cost is. So what is it? Well, What Not is the largest dedicated live shopping platform. So whether you're buying things in the areas of beauty or let's say like collectibles like cards or electronics or fashion, luxury, jewelry, even cookies, sellers are building a real business, but also as a buyer, you can get unbelievable deals and sales. Imagine like social media where you're scrolling and literally anyone can sell it could be a huge business

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W-H-A-T-N-O-T. Download it and you could start selling right away or even shopping. This really helped me prepare for Europe. I'm telling you, whether it's a steal-a-deal or it's just cash flow in your pocket because you're starting, you're selling business today. Go check out whatnot. It's pretty cool. I remember I was in a banking program when I was 21 years old. This was 2010 and the company put us through the etiquette training. We sat down and we did it all and I found it so fascinating. That was the last person there asking all the questions because it's just to me, it's just it's a whole different world. And then I want to get into some of the specifics from a corporate standpoint. When you're working with some of these large banks on the low end, how much can someone make

on the high end, how much can someone make? And what is training look like? Is it a full day? Is it a sit down meal? Is it a full week? Talk to me about that. A corporate training could be anywhere from $1,000. Let's say it's in our backyard.

We have an office in Columbus Circle, New York City. Let's say it's right next door. It's just a simple 30 minutes, 40 minutes. But the big group of summer associates for a law firm could be $1,000. A larger program, let's say we're going to a, which we're about to do next week, we're going into their annual training for VPs for a large, large bank, that is 15,000. So then we have larger programs we're training annually. And those programs are about 50 to 60,000 and upward from there.

What's so interesting is there's a lot of money to be made, but the education is worth it. There's a huge value on that education. It is so fascinating to me about your story, where you come from, where you've gone, who you make an impact on. but also this bridge of etiquette training at the highest levels to Bravo. That is so cool. That is so 2026. When Bravo came knocking on your door, there had to be some kind of concerns like entering reality TV when I am training the queen and the royal family on etiquette.

This could be a disaster. Did that thought cross your mind? And how did you balance that? 100%. I almost didn't do it. Yeah. I was like, wait. It sounds, this sounds risky.

You know, and at the end of the day, I consulted just a very, very close. I have two business mentors. I value greatly. My husband is an amazing businessman and a few other very close people in my life and who I know want good things for me. And we kind of just played it out. I had a little focus group. And I was like, all right, what do we think? Pros, cons, let's do this.

And in the end, we all agreed really together that there were more pros and cons. because I know myself. I'm not an unkind person. I'm not, you know, so for me, I was confident of how I trusted myself. I knew I was never going to do or say something that I would regret. And of course, you can't help the editing. You have nothing to do with that. So they could take your words and jumbled them together. But I also, I also wanted to take the risk. I thought it was exciting. It's a whole new demographic. And it's an amazing platform to show what you do and to have a little fun. So I said yes. I love it. You said yes. You killed it. Fan favorite. People love you. I do think there was a scenario and this is probably my only reality TV question and I'm bringing it up because I do think

it connects to everybody back at home. There's a situation with one of your best friends. A rumor comes up. You address that. You ask about it. And that turns into a sideways friendship and a big fight disagreement. I don't want to get into the tea or the detail of that. But what I do want to get into is, This is a big thing a lot of people deal with, right? There's rumors that come up. There's so much with the way the Internet's moving now and gossip train and people taking their own traumas and bringing it onto others through judging and trolling and stuff. There's just a lot of mislabeling that happens.

What is the proper etiquette to deal with these things with friends, family, or colleagues? You hear rumors. You hear someone said something. You hear something that's untrue. How do you approach it? What's your recommendation? Especially being someone that had to deal with this in a public. guy. You know, I think, I think if you feel like there's a rumor that's not true and there's a person who's

close to you, I think a good, loyal friend should defend that person. I think, how would you want that person to defend you or say in that moment? I always lead in that way with kindness. And I'm thinking, in this moment, what would I want her to do for me? And so that's what I did. I mean, I'm a little bit mama bear. I'm very protective. I'm very loyal, sometimes to my detriment. And, And for me, that was something that was really important to me. I would rather be destroyed on social media or reality TV than to not stick up for a person that I felt loyal to. Yeah, I feel the same way. I do it like a little, I have like a little target symbol in my head.

And based on where the relationships fall in that target symbol is like how much I will go in. If you're in that middle target symbol and I'm hearing rumors about you, I'm going to go die for you. Like, I'm going to figure out what's going on. If you're someone outside that circle and you're spreading rumors that are nonsense that are non-criminal, I don't care. Yes. I'm not going to waste my energy. Are you in it or not? Yeah.

Are you in it or not? I love it. Okay. All right, let's get back to some Medicaid trainings. I know people have such interest in this. We talked about the handshake. Let's talk about a tire. Everything is changing.

People aren't wearing ties anymore. Corporate environments. You've got some people wearing sweats. There's a big trend right now and a discussion point on airplanes of people literally like not even wearing socks and being in like, you know, all types of sweats. I think one airport actually banned wearing sweats. My question, do is on attire. And if you could address kind of as many formalities in different situations you can, how do you know what to wear in 2026 from an etiquette perspective? For me, it's all every single day dressing yourself like you're going to meet your next business

contact, next friend, next family member, whoever it might be. Are you prepared in that day? to meet that person. And if you're happy with that and how you present yourself, then great. But that's how I think of it. Every single day when I go to the airport, when I'm, am I dressed to meet the next big CEO of a company that I'm sitting next to? If not, I'm going back in revamp and out I go. So I feel confident. So I show respect to myself and to the person I'm about to me. So I can feel amazing when I go in to pitch that business. That's business. Do you feel the same with like those that are listening to this that are single and going on dates and things like that? 100%.

You are in charge of presenting yourself and telling people what to think about you by the way you present yourself. It's not only way you dress yourself and groom yourself, but your energy. So if you're moping around wearing a hoodie and ripped jeans and dirty clothes and you look sloppy, how is somebody else supposed to show respect if you aren't showing respect to yourself? I really believe it's, I always say this, dress the way you want to be addressed. And that is in social and in business.

How do you want to be addressed today? Dress that way. What is the response to this that people agree with you? But then they say, well, there's not relatability in always being like perfect. There's not relatability in dressing ahead and acting a certain way and presenting a certain way. What's your response to that? Follow the two of three rule. It's hair, skin outfit.

Make sure two of the three are always done. So if you're more casual in your outfit, make sure you're groomed nicely. So think of it like that. So there's always something that shows respect to yourself and other people. I think it's important. Okay. Let's stay in the workplace here. Zoom Medicaid.

We're doing a lot of virtual Zooms and things like that. Are there any faux pauses, things to stay away from or things to consider while on Zoom? Definitely. I think it is very important to, I mean, everything from not being in a swivel chair and having things move behind you to making sure your face is forward lit. I think all the protocol that we know the basics to making sure you're taking notes or all the things, depending on your job, making sure your eye level to the camera. There's so much involved in Zoom etiquette. I think it's crucial because it's how we communicate.

Yeah, I always say, like, especially for interviews, too, a lot of interviews are virtual. And it's like first impressions are hard to make from afar. And when I see there's no backlit, your camera's fuzzy, you haven't paid attention to what's in your back. background, things like that, to me, those are signs that, like, you're not focused on the detail and the detail matters. A lot of questions we got when we put this out there to our email group was all about email and texting. So with companies right now and then family members and stuff, we're always connected, whether it's through like a Slack or a text or an email. Do you have any top trending tips and tricks for email texting etiquette?

You know, I think my biggest thing right now with email, because I work all over the world and have teams all over the world, is to make sure at the bottom of your email, you have a line that says, while you might receive this email during nonworking hours, I do not expect you to reply. Please note that we are a global company. And, you know, so you're saying you might receive this at 2 a.m. because that's to some people, if you've received an email at 2am, people find that disrespectful. A lot of people do. So instead of scheduling emails and this and that, what you could do, I think having a line like that is very modern. It's on the bottom of every Beaumont etiquette email of all my team. I think that's important. That's really good. And is there a, do you think every company should have their own rules for time? Like within, is there like a like within one business day, within two business days, within one business hour? Like, how do you address when companies ask you about that?

So the majority of people now respond for, to a text within three, three minutes of receiving it. 90% is the figure. So if that is the case, people expect that automatic response. So I would say, just know that people do expect that usually with a text response within the same day, a business email within the 24 hours. I think that's standard. I think be careful of texting outside of business hours. If you know somebody's on a different time zone, they might have night mode on. They might not. So it's thinking about if you are sending a text message at 11 p.m. Maybe it should be an email instead unless it's incredibly urgent.

And that's your industry to be able to text or call at that hour. Love it. Talk to me about just faux paws, like top faux paws that you see in business settings when you're coaching some of the biggest business leaders or you're coaching a whole group of people and some people are entry level. Top business faux paas or work faux paus. Like, guys, if there's one thing you take, take away when you go to work, just don't do these things.

Do you know, I think, I mean, there's so many here. This is hard for me. But I think, I truly think it is in a new relationship. You know, let's start with your interviewing. Still, that thank you is crucial. I can't tell you how important it is to send that thank you after an interview. Even doubling down with the handwritten, it's tangible. People don't, you know, people nowadays they don't do it.

think knowing your email etiquette is incredibly important. For example, if you are writing an email, the CC is only carbon copy. So that person is not addressed in the email. If I'm saying, Dear Jason, and then everybody else in your team is CCed, I'm not addressing them in the dear part. It's just you. And that means only your email comes first. It could be anything like that. I think dressing is, you know, I always say dress for the client as well. If you've got clients, you need to become a social chameleon. If I have a bank tomorrow, I'm very formal dressed. If I'm teaching etiquette at the Plaza Hotel and we're teaching tea next week,

then I'm probably wearing feathers. So become a social chameleon with your dressing. I think that's hugely important. And then look at your presentation. So often we have things like a presentation photo, a pen, the back of your iPhone or your phone, and you see it every day. So you don't see all the marks and all the things that really stay. affect your overall image. I think so check all those fine details. It's really important the way

you present yourself and knowing how to connect people. Learn how to connect with people, build rapport. These are soft skills, but now the most important skills that you can have in the workplace. The trading secrets that you're dropping in this episode are truly, truly endless. Funny story, actually, I was preparing with Reagan for this podcast. And we're talking about all the things, all this, and I'm looking at what I should wear. And I'm like, I got to wear a coat today, right? I got a dress for the occasion. So the piece of advice you're given, we're doing over here. The piece of advice I know you wouldn't give that we did over here, we got to take a little ownership is I was running late from one meeting to another and we had to push this back 15 minutes.

My biggest issue with business is punctuality and time management, which is why Reagan's now part of the team. So my question to you is I do feel like a lot of people. people also run into this. They run late. How do you, first and foremost, don't be late's the answer. If you are, how do you properly handle the etiquette of being late? The proper etiquette is to do exactly what you did. You let my team know that you were running late. I always say for every minute you think you're going to be late, give two minutes notice. So if you think you're running five minutes late, give 10 minutes notice for the person that's, you know, you're about to meet. And I think that's fine. Everybody understands.

These are every day. It could be something completely out of your hands. And people understand it's just the way that you handle it. And you did super today. And the other thing, if anybody out there is listening, one of the best Nicholas Coleridge, he was the CEO of Condonast years ago and I was working with him. And he taught me something that I loved to give credit where credits do. And he said, when someone walks in, let's say it's a client and they're late, you never,

the good etiquette is to never make them feel like they're late. You all say, no, no, no, no, no. You are in perfect time. please relax come come you know sit enjoy how how is your morning so you instantly take off the awkwardness you don't ever make them feel like they're late because good etiquette is showing making other people feel comfortable that is what it is so i think things like that i feel like i could write a book based on what i'm learning here i know you are a very distinguished author so everyone will have to check out your books we're going to get more into some etiquette topics the next one we will cover is

I know a lot of people are asking about that. Before we get into the topic of wedding, of all the people, obviously you just mentioned one, but you get to sit with some of the most distinguished, powerful, successful people in the world. Not many people get to see the things that you get to see and learn from the people that you get to learn from. If you had to summarize, like maybe one or two things that all of these people encompass, while they're so different in their own way, that make them such outliers in whatever world it is, from your scene, which is behind the scenes, how would you summarize what makes these people so successful?

They know how to make people feel good. They know how to evoke positive emotion in other people, not just evoking any emotion. It's positive emotion. They can make you feel like you're the most important person in the room. And I can give you an example. There was an event I was working at with King Charles. He was just, he was Prince Charles at the time.

And he came into the room. and he, the first person he spoke with was the man who was the cater holding holding a platter of canopays for everybody. And he sat there for four minutes and had a chat with this man. Like he was the most important person in the room. And eventually, you know, people had to pull him away to actually go meet who he was there to meet. And afterwards, that man, he, we could not stop him from smiling. He probably is still talking to this day about that. And so am I, because I was observing, I was watching, and I loved how he spent all the quality time he spent, it was the same with everybody. He treated every single person the same. He was talking to me,

if he was talking to the cater, if he was talking to the president of a country, he makes you feel amazing. And I think some of the best leaders in our world, world also can do that. And I get to observe firsthand in boardrooms, in larger rooms. And that is what I'm constantly impressed with. Yeah. And it's like if someone like King Charles, because I think the response to that would be like, I don't have the time. I'm too busy. I'm pulled in a million directions. Got a million things going on. The response to my response to that based on what you just said, what you've learned from these people is like if King Charles can find the four minutes, you can find the four minutes, right?

Like, you know, manage your time effectively and every minute does count, but also use it with intention. So I think there's so much there. And that's really cool to learn from the people that you've learned from. Let's go to wedding etiquette. This is a hot one. I got two coming up here. And I got to tell this story.

One of Catherine's friends came over. I won't say her name. And she had told us, you know, let's just say her and her mom have some disagreement. on things. And she sent me, she sent her mom on Amazon without telling her a mother of the bride etiquette book and was like, go read this. I, oh, I was like, oh my God, that's unbelievable. It's hard to generalize an open question like this, but there's a lot of topics to cover as far as, you know, wedding gifts. Do you say goodbye to the bride and groom? Do you make sure? you say hello, what do you wear, how do you act? If you could just give us high level wedding etiquette

tips and tricks to think about, what could you leave us with on the wedding side of things? So if you are going to wedding, if you're invited to the wedding and you're not going, still send a gift. You always have a gift. If it's a destination wedding or a wedding, you want to make sure that you send the gift to their home so they don't have to carry the gifts home from Bermuda, wherever it is. I think be careful. of you are always following the dress code, check ahead to see what the dress code is. That's very, very important. No light kind of colors unless the couple have asked you. Never change the seating charts. If you sit at your table, you don't like your table, it doesn't matter. You're still

sitting at that table. I would say you, people say you have up to a year to send a wedding gift. I don't believe that. I really don't. I think you should send a wedding gift as soon as possible. I think RSVP is soon as you know, if you can. go to that wedding. Often people, the couple have to chase people or they wait into the last moment. If you know you can go, you send the RSDP as soon as you know. Those are brilliant. What about this is, this relates to like all aspects of it. You've talked about it, picking up the right fork in formal dining situations or even casual dining situations. What are like some of your top etiquette tricks? I would say, learn how to hold a fork and knife.

It's so, so important. I have a YouTube where I teach people. how to do it so you can learn for free, head there. And then I think that's the name of the YouTube. It's just Mike Amier. Everyone go check that out. Hold the fork right. Okay. I think it's knowing that holding if it has, if a glass has a stem, you hold the glass by the stem, not by the bowl of the glass. Because two reasons, you don't want to leave fingerprints. And also you don't want to heat the liquid in the glass. Doesn't matter if it's red wine, white wine doesn't matter. You hold it by to stem. I would say, and the napkin, at a private home, you wait until the host or the hostess puts the napkin in their lap, and then you follow suit. But at a restaurant or any public place,

the moment you sit down, that napkin goes in your lap, before you even have a sip of water. That's one I didn't know, the napkin. Okay, this is one I heard again. I thought this was silly and it doesn't feel right, but correct me. Salt and pepper. Someone told me, if someone asked for the pepper shaker, you're supposed to give both of them, salt and pepper, and you're supposed to go, I think, clockwise, like even if the person's next to you, what's the right etiquette there? So they stay together. They are married. That's true. So they're going to stay together. But I would say, you know, usually I say you pass right around the table. But if someone to your left asks for the salt and pepper, you would just pass it

to the left. I think I've heard that before. It's such a silly rule because it doesn't make sense. So I never teach anything I don't believe. It would make no sense you'd be doing the person a disservice, a disrespect to have to pass it all the way around. if they're just to your left. So it's a lot of etiquette is common sense. All right. We talk money on the podcast, wedding gifts. One of the big things people say is try to estimate the cost of a plate.

Some people say give it based on your observation of the wedding. It feels like the location of it. There's a million different rules. What is your rule, Micah? You know, I still follow the average, the American averages, which is 75 to 125 is the American average per person. for a gift. So if you're coming, if you're coming as a couple, maybe you go on the higher end. If it's a really close person in your life, maybe it's more than that. It has to do with your

financial means as well. But that is the average. So I'm always monitoring the averages. So I'm staying within that. Okay. That's pretty good stuff. Now let's talk about one of the biggest fears in the world right now isn't dying. It is public speaking, but it's also networking I read recently. networking and small groups like going to a networking event where you know nobody and there's 50 to 100 people there do you have any tips as far as etiquette goes in networking events another thing that i find difficult these days is i don't know if it's appropriate or not to like it almost feels weird i'm like can i have your number can have your email because i don't know no one carries business cards and these i don't know just might take these virtual business cards

are just so stupid and tacky oh tap my phone eight times and it doesn't work And it's like, I don't know. I like the old business card. I just, people don't do it. Give us some networking tips. Okay. So my biggest networking tip is get there early because people show up 15, 20 minutes late on average. And the best networking happens in the beginning before people find their groups.

So fashionally late is the worst thing you can do at a networking event. When you come in, I want you to move, constantly find yourself moving. People are stagnant. They get comfortable. and they sit there or they stand in the same place. If you are the one moving around, you will meet so many more people. And I think, don't be afraid to introduce yourself.

Be brave, walk up, introduce yourself. Even if it's as simple as, hello, my name is Micah. I don't know anybody else here. I just wanted to come introduce myself. And then having that vulnerability, people are like, oh, Micah, so nice to meet you. Meet James, meet Katie. And they take you under their wing.

So do not, I introduce myself to my husband. I literally walked up to him and introduced myself. what would have happened if I hadn't done that. I always say, right, think about it. You miss every shot you don't take. So just walk up, introduce yourself. You have nothing to lose. I think people struggle with that more than ever now is just that breaking the ice.

When you introduce yourself to your husband or when someone introduces someone introducing themselves to someone else at an networking event, do you have a formality that you follow? Yes. So if I say, hello, you know, hi, I'm Micah Meyer. Then you would say your first and last name. If I just say, hi, I'm Micah, you just say your first name. So you match the formality of that person because people like automatically. They want to have something in common with you.

So you want to match their formality. If somebody is really loud, I think you want to mirror big energy. If somebody's quiet, you don't want to come in too big with your energy. I think it's about energy. It's, again, about making people feel comfortable and connecting in that way. And I think you will never lose if you're able to match an energy. Yeah. And I think one thing people do too often is like to go to networking event.

and they'll say, hi, I'm Jason. I'm from, that, that, that, that, that, they just start spewing. Like, they feel like they have to showcase their title or their identity or their job or whatever it is in the introduction. It sounds like what you're saying, Micah, is stop. Just pause. Hi, I'm Jason. Just pause. Is that, is that correct?

That is correct. And have great, as your second line, have something great. I don't like to say it's nice to see you or nice to meet you. I never say it's a pleasure to meet you because the pleasure hasn't been had until the end. So it was a pleasure to meet you is one. But also to say, it's nice to see. say to come in and say, you know, come in with something other than it's so nice to meet you. Otherwise, it just straight over your head.

It could be anything else, but instead of it's so nice to meet you. It's just like, ah, I just need. It's also risky. I have fallen for this trip before. I actually learned this from Hoda when my mom and I were on Today Show and we met Hoda. The first, she came up so warm, so inviting. Hi, I'm Hoda. And she said, nice to see you.

And I was like, that's so smart because it's safe. It's like, okay, it is nice for her to see us. And if there's a chance like three years ago, I met her in a place she wouldn't remember, it's not like, you're offending someone. I was like, that was smooth, that was good. But I like that. Say your name, have a second follow up. Be ready to go.

All right. Let's talk a little money here. So just with like, let's talk dating. With dating, there's a lot of viral moments. There's a lot of viral clips out there. From the etiquette expert, how do you handle paying for a, first date. My belief is if you invited, if you pick the restaurant, if you, that's your responsibility to check out the menu, then you pay is my take. And that's an almost all,

like so if I have a business lunch and I suggest the place and ask, that's, that would be the same Medicaid, right? Correct. I've horrible. I truly, truly believe it. And then and then the second follow up to that would be if you, if you are unsure, like, I think you said earlier, have those conversations up front. Yeah, and I still always offer. I would always say, I never want to be presumptuous. I will always offer, you know, but if somebody came and they chose the nicest restaurant in town with the nicest wine list because they were the host and all these things and then expect you to pay,

I think that's really, that's really bad. That's bad etiquette. Okay. And then the last one I got for you, one of the last ones on finance and money is tipping culture. That seems just like it's bad. I was in Europe. No one asked for a tip, you know. I gave seven and a half percent. The guy was like, this is amazing. Obviously, United States is different. What is the answer to tipping culture? What is appropriate from an etiquette professional standpoint? It depends on the country or culture you're in. In America, tipping is customary, so you should do it. You know, 15% to now 22% is the national average. And I think that it's important to reward good service. If you had bad service, I still would tip. I still would tip something because you don't know. Maybe it wasn't the server's fault. Maybe it was the kitchen who was delayed and had nothing to do with the server. I think that I'm still a tipper. I've been a waitress. I've been a bartender. I've been it all. And I know how it feels on all those sides. And I think it's all about remembering to show respect to other people. And you never know what somebody's going through. And I just think it's a really nice thing to do.

100%. I think where a lot of Americans are finding frustration is like, Where is the line drawn not in the amount, right? Like if I go to a dinner, I'm always going to tip 20%. It's where do you tip? Because I feel like now with these POS systems, it's like literally every single type of business, there's a tip being asked for. And my question is, do you have an etiquette rule for, is it service only? Is it like, how do you handle where you draw the line as to if a tip is? I got an IV the other day.

And the IV was expensive, right? I mean, I did like an NAD and it was $350. And on the POS system, there was a tip thing for 15, 20, 25. And that's a big chunk of change for an IV that you're paying a lot of money for. So my question is like, where do you draw the line? You know, I think if it is, if you go and you order a coffee and the person barely interacts with you, I don't feel pressure to tip in addition. And I'm walking away with the coffee.

If somebody really puts effort in, really shows me good service. I'll be the first person to tip. I don't think you should ever feel pressure to tip if somebody did not provide excellent service in a fast, you know, in a fast food or fast consumer moment. I really think it gets out of control. And I don't think it's necessary. Amazing. Well, the tips here have been endless. I know that you have a mini-manor series. People can come to you to actually get educated to become a consultant in this space, what you offer is endless. Summarize pretty much what the business model looks like today and then where everyone can find everything you have going on.

So I'm most excited about mini manners more than anything else that I'm doing. Mini Manors is going to be the next children's kindness and manners global franchise, which I'm so excited about this. I would say for anybody out there that has little ones, remember that the foundation of your emotional and social intelligence is from two to six years old. Two to six. That's when the most of your foundational social and emotional intelligence is created. So this is so important from two to six. So my company is developing that social and emotional intelligence. We have a YouTube channel. We're going into licensing deals and everything from that. So watch the space, but many manners on YouTube. And then otherwise, Beaumont etiquette.com is our website where we really provide every type of. training you could think of in terms of professional and personal training. And I have an online finishing program for people virtually if you can't make it to New York City. And yeah, I'm two books,

business etiquette made easy, modern etiquette made easy. And yeah, I'm here if you need me. I love it. So the foundation of our emotional intelligence is built from two to six, huh? Two to six years old. And you know what's the really incredible part is that it's there, it's so easy to craft this really important time in our lives. And a lot of people who say, I had childhood trauma. I had, if you go back, right, everybody's issues always goes back to the foundational part of our childhood. And that's why it's so important.

And that is why the team and I at mini manners are, we've redirected our focus to many manners. That's my big, big thing this year. Because at the end of the day, we're looking at all these AI. We're looking at all these stats. We're looking, you know, etiquette and soft skills. expected to be a $76 billion market by the year 2030, according to Fortune magazine. And think about the children in the next generation who are being raised by AI. There's nothing more important than those social and emotional, really, capabilities that

we have in us, that we are losing at the fastest pace that we've ever seen in the human world. We've never seen anything more drastic. And so Many Manners is focusing on creating and helping that next generation. So that is what I'm most excited about. And also that I think it could be, I mean, if Ms. Rachel can walk away with $50 million a year, I think she was on to something. Bluey, it's a blueie, Sesame Street, Miss Rachel, all combined. It's an animated series.

We've got puppets. We're ready for you. I love it. Follow those who have done it right while making impact. I think you're on so much here. I think it's the absolute, you know, it's the, It's the counter to AI. And it's everything that we need to know in a world that's going so technological.

So I think it's amazing. The last question I got for you, everyone wants to know, are you going to be on the next season, the ladies of London? We haven't heard if there is the next season yet. Okay. So we don't know. We don't know. But we shall hopefully, I mean, hopefully soon we'll know.

More to come. All right. Well, we wrap every episode with the trading secret. The problem you have is you already just gave us 16,000 trading secrets. But we got to get one trading secret from it. It could be etiquette-based, business-based, finance-based, anything that's specific to the journey that you've gone through. Michael, what trading secret could you leave us with?

I'm going to tell you that it is the most important thing in your life to be able to change tack. This is a sailing term that when you're going into the wind and all of a sudden the sail starts to lose that wind and you slow down, the boat slows down, that means you want to give up. You want to just jump off the boat because it stops moving, but you can't. All you have to do is change the direction of the sails, pick up the wind again and go, go, go.

So whenever something's not going right in business or even your social life, you need to just change tack. You don't give up. You just change direction and pick up wind again. So change tact. That's what we say in my office. Change tact. I love it.

Well, Micah, thank you so much for me on this episode, Trading Secrets. It's just amazing what you're doing, the business that you're building, the connection to reality TV, etiquette, making an impact on the biggest leaders. and now our earliest generation. So thank you for being on Trane Secrets. Thank you for coming here. One more time, where can everyone find you and everything else you have going on if they're interested?

Across social media at Micah Meyer and at my website, Beaumont Etiquette.com. Micah Meyer, thank you so much for being on this episode, Trane Secrets. Thank you so much for having me. So much fun. Thank you.