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How do you avoid social blunders in the workplace?

What is the hidden etiquette of emails, messages and digital communications?

And how can having great manners contribute to our success in both our business and personal lives?

Join me for this fascinating conversation with Jamila Musayeva, an etiquette coach who helps people navigate the often tricky world of manners, etiquette, and social interactions, whether it’s in person or online.

In this eye-opening episode, we dive into: how to handle stressful situations in your work without losing your cool, how to make your personal brand more elegant, cultural do’s and don’ts when working with international clients, how to keep it professional on digital platforms, and why good manners are more than just politeness — they’re a key to personal growth.

If you’re looking to polish your professional edge or just want to make your everyday interactions smoother and more respectful, then press play now… This one’s for you.

About Jamila Musayeva

Jamila Musayeva is a certified etiquette expert and summa cum laude graduate in International Affairs from George Washington University. She is an author and YouTube creator with nearly 1 million subscribers, focusing on international etiquette.

In this episode we chat about:

• The remarkable journey that led Jamila to become an etiquette expert (3:45)
• The top etiquette tips that will transform your professionalism at work (9:00)
• How to balance femininity and leadership without sacrificing your identity (16:35)
• How incorporating elegance into your brand can set you apart in any industry (21:24)
• How to avoid the most common cross-cultural blunders (25:20)
• Why etiquette is your secret weapon for building vital business relationships (31:23)
• How to keep it classy online in your emails, social media, and more (34:31)
• Crucial tips for leaving voice messages (42:18)
• Essential etiquette for business success (48:07)
• The #1 book she wishes was in every school curriculum (50:36)
• The daily routine that fuels her success (54:29)

Episode resources:

• SheLaunch (join here)
• Mastering Your Mean Girl by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Open Wide by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Comparisonitis by Melissa Ambrosini (book)
• Time Magic by Melissa Ambrosini and Nick Broadhurst (book)
• The Art of Entertaining at Home by Jamila Musayeva (book)
• Afternoon Tea Etiquette by Jamila Musayeva (book)
• Etiquette: The Least You Need To Know by Jamila Musayeva (book)
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason (book)
• Etiquette Movie Club (website)
• Jamila Musayeva (Instagram)
• Jamila online courses (website)
• Jamila Musayeva (website)

Prefer To Read?

The following transcript has been automatically generated and not checked for accuracy.

Melissa: [00:00:00] In episode 591 with Jamila Moussaieva, we are talking all about etiquette, something we have never spoken about on the podcast before, and how to be more etiquette in both business and life and how this can impact. Every area of your life. Welcome to the Melissa Ambrosini show. I’m your host, Melissa, best selling author of Mastering Your Mean Girl, Open Wide, Comparisonitis, and Time Magic.

And I’m here to remind you that love is sexy, healthy is liberating, and wealthy isn’t a dirty word. Each week I’ll be getting up close and personal with thought leaders from around the As well as your weekly dose of motivation so that you can get Create epic change in your own life and become the best version of yourself possible.

Are you ready? Beautiful. Hey, beautiful. And welcome back to the show. I’m so excited about this episode because like I mentioned, we have [00:01:00] never spoken about etiquette on the podcast. And I am so excited to bring an etiquette expert to you because when her books landed on my desk, I was Instantly intrigued.

I was like, oof, I would like to be more etiquette in both business and life. And for those of you that have never heard of Jamila, she is a certified etiquette expert. She’s the author of three books and a YouTube creator with nearly 1 million subscribers. And everything she does focuses on international etiquette.

Now she was raised in a culturally rich environment. She is fluent in sign language. Six languages and obtains her master’s degree in European political and administrative studies from the College of Europe in Belgium. Now, Jamila’s global perspective is deeply ingrained in her work. Her profound knowledge of diplomatic protocol, coupled with her mastery of etiquette, good manners and luxury etiquette, positions her as a leading figure in the realm of [00:02:00] refined behavior.

Her modern approach integrates personal development, female empowerment and multicultural understanding. Her mission is to foster open mindedness, cultural appreciation and a balance between progressive living and preserving traditions, establishing her as a global ambassador for etiquette and cultural understanding.

This episode is so good and I am so excited for you to dive in. Now for everything that we mentioned in today’s episode, you can check out in the show notes and that’s over at melissarambrosini. com forward slash 591. Now without further ado, let’s bring on the very elegant Jemilla.

Jemilla welcome to the show. I’m so excited to have you here, but before we dive in, can you tell us what you had for breakfast this morning? I had crepe and coffee. Did you make the crepes or did you go out for crepes? 

Jamila: No, I actually have help at home. So she made me crepes. I am currently [00:03:00] unable to do a lot of things by myself.

So I have little help to help me around because I fractured my right hand shoulder. So. Getting used to a new lifestyle, using my left hand in anything that I can. And how did you do that? I just picked up horseback riding about four months ago, and I’ve been really doing it consistently every day. And I started cantering and galloping, and this time I just lost my balance and fell off the horse at a really high speed.

Actually, I, well, the horse went off track because I wanted to run back to the barn. And so I lost my balance and just fell off the horse and voila. 

Melissa: Oh my goodness, babe. Oh my goodness. And you’ve got the sling on now. I can see. Well, get better, please. Tell us how you got into this work. Tell us your origin story.

Because. I was super intrigued when your books landed on my desk. I was like, what is this all about? So how did you get into [00:04:00] this work? What is your origin story? How did you get to where you are today? 

Jamila: Actually, there are a lot of things that I think came from my childhood, like a lot of signs of what I wanted to do.

And I’ve always been very, I’ve been a person, an adult that always listened to my childhood wishes and dreams, like horseback riding was one of them. And so to start from the very beginning, I was born and raised in Azerbaijan, which is a small country located close to the Caspian sea, bordering a lot of countries like Turkey, Iran, Russia.

And so I grew up in a very multicultural environment and multilingual. So I grew up already speaking Azerbaijani, my native language, Russian. And English, and I was exposed to all different cultures from very early age on. And I also traveled a lot with my parents who took us pretty much to every part of the world for us to see different cultures and traditions and so forth.

And so when I was 16, I moved to us to pursue my undergraduate in international relations at the George Washington university, uh, where I did, um, [00:05:00] international relations and I minored in history and sociology. So I’ve always been interested in like cultures, traditions, like countries, like different religions and philosophies and all that.

And then I moved to Europe. I actually moved to Belgium to do my master’s degree at college of Europe, where I did master’s in European politics and administration. I was in us and I moved to Europe and then coming back to Azerbaijan, I worked at an Azerbaijani diplomatic Academy as an EU expert, nothing about etiquette, more about EU, um, But meanwhile, I was also doing some little like master classes for school children, as well as for like freshmen and university students in etiquette, just something out of my own initiative.

I thought that could be something interesting for them. And so once I started doing that, I realized I actually want to study it. And I went to London to do my etiquette training and became a certified etiquette trainer. So basically I think the way I grew up, the way I was exposed to cultures and religions and [00:06:00] traditions and languages, I picked up many other languages along the way when I studied.

So I started learning French and then Spanish and then German and then Arabic. So I think that has really made me really interested and curious about how people live differently as though etiquette is just the rules that come out of our daily lifestyle. That is based on our customs, traditions, religion, philosophy on life.

And every family has a different etiquette as well. So this is just like a quick snap of my life. But I also think that my interest as a child was always a long learning about different cultures. And I thought it was sociology. And then I thought anthropology, what else could I be doing? And I think I eventually did what I’ve always wanted to do.

And etiquette is really just combining all of that together. 

Melissa: Um, beautiful. I love that so much. So how many languages do you speak right now? How many can you speak? I lost a few 

Jamila: [00:07:00] along the way, but I’ve also improved some along the way. So I am fluent in Azerbaijani Russian. English because English was always the language I studied like in, after my fourth grade, then I did Spanish and French in school while I was still in Azerbaijan, but I really improved it in US because I, I obviously had to take like second languages in international relations major.

So I did Spanish, but I already was at a best level when I was starting it there. And then I did my master’s in French and English. I did my bilingual masters, so I picked French, basically, and it improved along the way. I lost German along the way because I never took any classes in German. And like, this is a language that never really worked with me.

But when I travel to Germany, I can quickly pick up words and quickly start dialogue as well. Like it would take me, I think, a month to restore my memory of it. And I can speak and understand really well Turkish because very similar to Azerbaijani, the same language group. And I’ve started working more on my [00:08:00] Arabic.

It’s something I’m learning right now. And I really want to make it to a conversation level, which I haven’t been able to do because it’s such a difficult language to learn. 

Melissa: That’s for now. It’s, Oh my goodness. So inspiring. My daughter can speak English and French and fully understand it because we have a French nanny and we’ve had her.

Since my daughter was four months old. So she’s now just over three and it blows my mind. Like it’s just such a beautiful thing. So our nanny only speaks to her in French. And if she replies in English, she will ask her to reply in French to her. And it’s just so beautiful. I love watching them together. I think it’s such a beautiful thing.

And my dad is Italian. My mom is Australian. And they never taught us Italian growing up, which is such a shame. Like, I really wish they did. And there’s no reason why I can’t pick it up now, but I just think it’s such a beautiful thing. So I love that about you. I really love it. It’s so inspiring. I [00:09:00] But going back to etiquette, okay, so this is not something that I was personally taught in school.

I’m sure there are schools around the world that do teach it, but the school that I went to didn’t teach etiquette. And I think it is such a beautiful thing. And I’m like, why is this not taught in school? So when I was in year 10, I actually did like a modeling department etiquette class, and And that is when I first learned how to sit properly, like sit like a lady and set a table and the correct cutlery to use.

Like I was never taught any of this. My parents were very relaxed around that stuff. So I think it is such a beautiful gift and I’m so glad that you’re out there teaching it and your books. It’s just amazing because it is such an important thing because I know for me, and I know for many people. Like, when we are stressed, when we are overworked, when we are [00:10:00] overwhelmed and tired, and maybe we’re a working mama, I don’t know, but maintaining that professionalism and that etiquette at work can feel really challenging.

And then maybe we react in a way that we don’t desire. Maybe we lose it. Maybe we say something that we regret. So what are some key etiquette tips for handling Those situations in a work environment. 

Jamila: I actually very much agree with you, Melissa, and I don’t really know why schools no longer teach that because they used to, and I don’t see it as something that would restrict people from being who they are.

I think it’s just, it’s still in a certain kind of a discipline where you respect each other. And hence, you don’t have to deal with the stress of interpersonal, like. Relationship that will potentially, because most of us are really stressed because of the way we are handled at work, the way we are treated by our co workers or boss.

And that’s because most people these days don’t follow etiquette, basic etiquette rules, like the things that could be common [00:11:00] sense. People have lost it. And I think one thing that I do with my teaching is I try to spread the information about how to be your most gracious, your most respectful, kind being that you can to those around you.

But the efforts that I do on my part are perhaps a drop in the ocean. I think it has to be massively consumed in a way that any other information is now consumed. To answer your question. I do think that this is the kind of a journey that we have to handle individually. It’s like, if you want to change the world, you have to change yourself.

I get a lot of questions with people telling me like, I obey all the etiquette rules, I’m being so kind to people, but they’re not in return. Like, this angers me so much. I’m like, I don’t want to be the one that has like good manners only. I’m going to respond. Or like, how do I handle with people that are ignorant about etiquette?

And my response is always the same. Like, You are you, you do you and the others will either learn from you or you’re just going to set your bar lower and just be on their level. If you want to [00:12:00] be who you are and be the best version of yourself, you don’t have to expect that people will be like nice back to you or follow etiquette back to you, it’s just really about you.

And so for me, I think with the work environment, no matter how demy, how hot tempered, how whoever around me is. I always maintain my calm and my composure and I try to be my, I try to set an example with my behavior. So perhaps someone will learn from it and maybe they wouldn’t, but I don’t expect anyone that is coming my way on that they’ll definitely be also well mannered.

It’s the thing that people these days expect that if I’m nice to you, be nice to me back or else I won’t be. But that’s not what kindness or respect is about. Respect is about you doing your work and then not respect, not expecting anything in a way. It’s almost like when you give someone something, you don’t expect them to bring them a gift back to you.

You do it because you want to, to show your appreciation or love or support, whatever it might be. But handling at [00:13:00] work, any kind of like mishaps or any kind of arguments or fights, I think it’s really about, as everything in life is about setting boundaries, it’s about learning to show when it’s not okay, to talk to you in a certain way, to maybe occupy your cubicle if you’re seated at a cubicle, respect your personal space when it comes to office space that is co shared, which happens a lot.

And I think the way we are getting treated is often how we let people treat us. So it’s really about learning to draw these boundaries around you that people can’t cross, and that comes of course, with being respectful as well. For example, if I’m the one who storms into your cubicle every single second, You would expect that it’s okay to storm into mine because I’m doing good to you, right?

But if I start like asking you, if it’s okay, if I come up to you right now, if you’re free to talk, maybe you’ll pick up along the way of me treating you like that and we’ll start at least treating me the same way. Maybe not the others. But the ones that treat you that, [00:14:00] that way, that is not to say that you have to expect people to be always kind and one manner towards you, but it really certainly helps.

It brushes off like the way you treat others. It brushes off on them, at least on the way they treat you. 

Melissa: Yes, we teach others how to treat us. We teach others how to treat us. So when we are respectful and when we have healthy boundaries, that is setting the tone and that is showing people how you want to interact with them.

And it’s so beautiful. I think it is such a beautiful thing. And. It’s really inspiring. I think for me, like I mentioned, my daughter’s over three and they copy everything you do and everything you say, like modeling is so big. Like she copies everything I do and I say, and it’s been so eyeopening. Like it’s been really inspiring.

I think having children is like the biggest [00:15:00] personal development because it forces you to to look at yourself, to look at how you are speaking, to look at how you are showing up, to watch every word that comes out of your mouth. So, you know, I’ve got this little mini tiny human that’s just absorbing everything.

So remember that they are watching and remember that we teach others how to treat us. 

Jamila: It was certainly do. And one thing I wanted to tell you, you only have now one year, one child that’s like two years old, but like wait, hopefully when you have a second one and you will see how, because I have two kids, uh, my daughter is nine, my son is six.

And from what I see is also the way my kids behave or like the way they are. They also set a way I should be treating them. That’s why I said, we’ll teach people how to treat us. So my daughter is very demanding and she’ll get her way anyway. So we know that she’s like that and we always, we eventually give up to what she says.

Whereas my boy is more lenient. [00:16:00] He’s more understanding. So we always get away without not doing what he wants. And so this also has helped me realize how we accept people’s personalities and we start treating them based on their personality. You don’t get into a trouble with someone who is like super pushy because you know, they’re going to push you way too much.

And you’re like trying to please them. And then the person who is always like, it’s okay. No worries. Like it’s fine. You always get away with these people. So it’s really how we send ourselves to the world is how 

Melissa: we get treated by the world. Absolutely. Now we’ve got many people listening to this show that are female entrepreneurs and something that I know a lot of female entrepreneurs struggle with is.

Balancing like their femininity when they are running a business, which can often require us to be in our masculine. So how can women balance those two energies and not sacrifice their divine feminine in [00:17:00] pursuit of their business? 

Jamila: Absolutely, I honestly, I don’t know where this, I guess, this whole idea of the notion of women thinking that they need to be like men to be successful in the entrepreneurial world, actually, like women have historically, well, I wouldn’t say it’s a business entrepreneurship, but men have been like hunters.

And women have been gathering things, like putting things together, building things right inside their home, or making sure that everyone has enough. And so really being the management, so to speak. So, and I think the idea that you have to be like a man to be successful is something that maybe has been a common myth for the last, maybe 20, 10, 50 years.

And it’s unfortunate that I see that women think that there is no other way that you can be feminine and still be successful in what you do. There are so many female led entrepreneurs, like big businesses and entrepreneurships that, where women are still very feminine. And I think we have to look up and like, talk about this [00:18:00] women more and more and put them on a, on social media, put them on a more visible chart.

So people can see and that it’s possible to still maintain your femininity and still be very successful and achieving. It’s almost like no men is trying to be feminine to be able to create beauty or to be able to nurture things, which is we usually think is a feminine energy, right? To create beauty, to create, to nurture things and men are just men and they’re doing what they want to do.

So I really want women to understand that you still can be very successful in what you do by, uh, still. Honoring your feminine side and you don’t have to give up on that to be able to succeed in whatever you do. Again, there are some businesses that are perhaps require more, if you work with more male colleagues, there are some things that you have to, in a way, give up.

So too many, too much makeup, too many bright colors to wear. Most corporate like outfits or like guidelines require you to dim the lights of your outfit, to put this little, [00:19:00] or to no makeup, like to be very, to blend in and not stand out with your, I guess, looks. But I would just say that this is something that is more of an outfit issue rather than an energy because energy is not just about what you’re wearing, it’s about how you perceive and feel yourself.

So you might have no makeup on, you can have like a suit on, but the inside that you’re carrying is very feminine. And to answer your question about femininity, I think if we start to tell ourselves that we don’t have to compromise in our femininity. Or we have to give up on that in order to be successful is the number one mindset that we have to change.

So fix that mindset first from this closed mindset that it’s only possible to succeed when you’re male energetic, like masculine energy is. Overwhelming. And then the second is try to do more things that will spark your femininity. If your work requires you constantly to show up with [00:20:00] your masculine energy more.

So when you’re at home, try to do things that would spark that energy more. Some of these activities are the basic ones that we do every day is surrounding ourselves with beautiful things. Feminine energy is about creating beauty around. Nurturing something, it could be having a child to nurture, having a plant to look after, having a pet to look after, just doing something that would require the nurturing side to, to be developing more.

Also, like it’s important to have good relations with other women as well. We don’t have to push away other women. Take one of the empowering words about women supporting women. So being in a circle of women also helps ignite that feminine side in us. It’s getting together with your girlfriends, meeting up for coffee, attending a yoga class together, anything really, any kind of activity where you don’t alienate yourself from other women and see them as a threat.

But rather you embrace that and bring them closer to you. So these are just some of the few activities that you can [00:21:00] balance with your work in order to help yourself to have that feminine side still going strong. Feminine energy. 

Melissa: Yeah. Beautiful. I love that so much. And it’s really important, especially with social media.

You know, we don’t look at other women on social media and compare ourselves to them instead. Like let’s celebrate each other. Let’s lift each other up. Let’s cheer each other on. I think that’s really important. So. Another thing you talk a lot about is personal branding. So inside my core program, SheLaunch, which helps female coaches and consultants build profitable businesses, I talk a lot about the importance of building a personal brand.

So can you share some practical tips on how we can incorporate. Elegance in our personal brand. 

Jamila: Um, I, I, when I was creating my personal brand, like, because now me being a social media person, like having my establishment on YouTube, having a followership there and then books and things like that, I had to [00:22:00] think of who am I?

What is my identity like, and what is something that makes me, that is genuine to me. It’s not like it’s my feature that I want to create, but it’s what is within me that I want to translate to my audience. And then I asked actually some of my followers to send me three words they would describe me with.

So I had like a little focus group to respond to this question. And then a lot of people just wrote elegant or this like, Calmness. And so I realized that these are the words I associate myself with. And I was able to build a brand that is not just, I guess, not just reflected, but who I am, but it’s really genuine to how I feel about myself.

In regards to you, to your question about how do we incorporate elegance into our personal branding? I think it’s very important to, to know who the founder is and if elegance is part of their genuine inner self. So if it’s really authentic to how you feel about yourself. Maybe you want a personal [00:23:00] brand that’s about being loud and being like very vibrant and being bold, then go for it.

I, when people ask me, like, do I always have to be elegant? And my response is, you don’t always have to be elegant. You can be all kinds of you. We have the different kinds of personalities with different kinds of people for different kinds of purposes. So. You don’t always have to feel like elegance is the only way to go.

You should just be genuine to how you feel about yourself and your brands should be really the epitome of that. Now, if you do want to feel like elegance should be part of your brand, I think it should start with within yourself before it becomes your brand identity, before it becomes your brand image, because.

People can really feel more than what you say. Like they will feel more than what you’re trying to say with your work. And by being elegant or incorporating elegance is building an elegant mindset. And as I said before, elegance for me has never been about what you’re [00:24:00] wearing or what kind of makeup you have on, what kind of pearls you’re wearing.

It’s absolutely not. This stereotypical elegant mindset and I’m trying my best with my, with my outfits even and with the way I present myself to on social media to show that you could be in yoga pants and still be elegant. You could wear Birkenstocks and still be elegant. I’ve gotten a hate about that, that you’re claiming to be elegant and here you are wearing Birkenstocks.

And I said, this is just a pair of shoes. It’s just the brand that is comfortable and I feel fine wearing it. Why would that in any way jeopardize my elegance? So Melissa, to answer your question, I think it starts with a mindset. Once you build an elegant mindset and elegance is having clear thoughts, having not ill talking about people behind their back on social media, controlling your thoughts as well as controlling how you present your thoughts to the world.

I think. Being, uh, well respected and well, I would say, like, well respected in the way that [00:25:00] you respect yourself and hence you respect everyone around you. Like draw your boundaries. Elegant is a lot about boundaries, boundaries, not overstepping, not letting anyone overstep yours, but also not overstepping others.

So there’s a lot of things for me that is elegant and it all starts with how we think. 

Melissa: Mm hmm. Comes from within. I love that. It’s beautiful. Now, We are often interacting with different clients or different people from such a diverse cultural background. So what are some of the common etiquette mistakes to avoid and how can we cultivate cultural sensitivity in these interactions?

It’s very true that 

Jamila: etiquette is a very culturally sensitive topic, which means Every culture will have its own etiquette rules, and it’s a right for that culture. And there’s no way you can shame them for doing it the other way than what you are doing. So you’re not, your way is not normal way, and there’s not like the wrong way.

There are some certain guidelines that we teach in etiquette that are the [00:26:00] standard guidelines. When it comes to, for example, you’re attending an international conference and there are people from all over the world, and you’re invited to a gala dinner. Obviously, we will not be eating every single culture.

We will not be eating their own way. We have a certain standard rules and cutlery that we should be using in order to consume the food at the table, drink, different kinds of drinks. And so these are called like Western formal etiquette guideline. So it’s. I do have an online course about that, but it’s just how it would behave.

If you find yourself at a table with a different representative of different nations and you’re at an international global conference meeting, business, whatever it might be, but then they’re also like social etiquette, which If you’re invited to someone’s home who is from Middle East, they’re Muslim, you’re Christian, your way of eating and their way of eating is going to be different based on the religious aspects of the way they treat food.

For example, in Muslim world, you’re not supposed to eat your food, drink your glass of water, [00:27:00] whatever it might be, or hand in a business card or hand in anything with your left hand. The reason you’re not supposed to be doing that is because it has a cultural explanation, has a religious belief behind it.

So Muslims, they cleanse themselves after using Bacro with their left hand. So the left hand is preferred to be a dirty hand. So you would never extend your left hand for handshake. You will never hand your business card with a left hand. It’s insulting to people receiving that, or you will not pass anything from the table with your left hand.

Hence, you would only use your right hand for that. In Asian country, you would use your both hands to hand in a business card. You wouldn’t do it with one hand because it’s disrespectful. You have to hand in together and receive as a, as a foreigner with two hands. Or the way of greeting is very different.

Like the kind of space we allow people to be in is very culturally different. In Latin America, people are always super close to you. They go for a double or triple kiss on the [00:28:00] cheek. U. S. is mostly a handshake. They would be surprised if you were going to go for a kiss and a cheek. That is like getting into my personal space.

I don’t know how it’s in Australia, but I’m assuming that it should be more chill now. How’s it in Australia? 

Melissa: Usually it’s either a handshake or a hug and like one kiss, but things have changed since COVID. Okay, so now it’s less of a 

Jamila: kiss than less of a hug? 

Melissa: I feel like, yeah, I feel like people are a little bit more standoffish.

And then there was the elbow and the fist pump during COVID. But yeah, I feel like it’s definitely shifted. And yeah, it’s so interesting. And I’m half Italian. So I’ve come from a background of like, you do the double kiss. 

Jamila: Because yes, most of Europe does double kiss. And so again, it depends on what, so for example, an American might find an Italian, overly friendly because of the way they go for like hug and kiss and an Italian will find an American really cold because why are you [00:29:00] leaving that space between me and you?

And so if you look at different types of readings around the world, like Indians, they do namaste, they take a distance between each other. There’s no bodily touching each other. You would also extend your handshake to her feet. First, men should not be extending handshake with a woman first. That’s the rule of etiquette.

It’s the woman that has to extend her hand for a handshake because she allows the man to shake her hand or not, because some women might be married that wouldn’t be one, maybe they don’t want to handshake. Maybe it’s for religious purposes, like Muslim women or Jewish women, like religious ones will not be able to handshake a man that’s not her part of her family member.

So there are a lot of rules about that. And so when it comes to just, just understanding different cultural etiquette is trying to educate yourself about different cultures without being judgmental about it, it’s, it’s a lot. The reason most people are ignorant about different cultural etiquette is because they think, Oh, I know how it’s done in my culture in the right way.

[00:30:00] So it’s a very ego or nation centric approach. So your way is not the right way. My way is the right way. And I’m trying to, again, with my work, trying to dissolve that stereotype and try to show people that there’s a reason why people do that way in their country and it’s the right way. And if you want to impress the person of that culture, so if you want to show that you have done your research, you have respected the person, then you should learn beforehand before going for a meeting.

A lot of business meetings have been called off. Based on the thing that they didn’t start off at the right foot. And that’s especially true for businesses between West and Middle East because of a very different cultural beliefs or Asian countries and Americans, Japanese people never say no because it’s considered rude in their culture.

They’ll express their answer in any way, but without saying no, they’ll say, maybe next week we’ll try to look at it again because it’s rude in our culture to reject someone and so a lot of business people that are doing business with [00:31:00] Japan will assume they’re not saying no as a way of, as a prospectful way of Uh, so that perhaps something might happen in the future.

And all these things come from not understanding the other’s culture. And I always recommend if you want to start off with a good foot, if you want to impress the person you’re trying to make business with, learn about their culture, 

Melissa: have that respect. Beautiful. I love that so much. Now, strong business relationships, which are so important, they are built on trust and respect, which is what we’re talking about here.

So how can mastering etiquette skills contribute to building and maintaining these crucial professional relationships? 

Jamila: Exactly. Like you said, having a good business starts off with building a good records, so a trust issue between a trademark issue, but a trust between this bond between you and the customer or the client.

And actually I’ll say, I’ll tell you this, that in Middle East. A personal relationship is more important when it comes to business rather than business. [00:32:00] In a way you build a relationship with your customer will determine the longevity of your business relationships. So it’s much more personal than perhaps it would be in the West.

In West, you can just sign a contract and that means you’re bonded. In Middle East, of course, now things are changing with the most of Middle Eastern countries also having a lot of U. S. and Western companies work in there. Things are shifting, but I would say at the middle entrepreneurship level, a lot of things is just based on who and how you treat the people that, you know, and in Middle East, it’s all about hierarchy.

It’s all about respecting the elderly. We get, they’re much more traditionalist when it comes to etiquette than perhaps the Western world now is. Western world has become more informal in the relationship, whereas the Formal rules still apply in Middle East and Asian countries, especially. So I think when you know the etiquette rules really well, when you have done your research about the country, how you should pay your respect, how you should greet them, how you should perhaps celebrate certain holidays that they are [00:33:00] celebrating, sending a card at their important celebrations, like Ramadan or Eid, for example, congratulating them on a, on a holiday, but also sending them the right kind of a gift.

I had a friend of mine who was working with, uh, he was based in Switzerland and he had companies working in Middle East. And I remember he told me that he’s going to choose the chocolate that doesn’t have any alcohol content in it. And I said, that’s so thoughtful of you that you went all the way to research which chocolates don’t have any alcohol extractions in it.

Because some chocolates do. And so you want to make sure that you send the right kind of chocolate can be consumed by your Muslim client. So it’s really just taking the extra effort and doing the extra research to show that you care about your customer. You care about that person and all these little things will be so much appreciated.

And it’s the, it’s a drop by drop that forms the ocean. So it’s a drop by drop gestures that will create this impact on the client that you really do care [00:34:00] about them and you really want the best for them. And yeah, it all comes down to respect and time and effort you put into a relationship. 

Melissa: So beautiful.

I love it so much. And it’s not like you have to spend hours doing the research. It’s just about doing a bit of research, looking a little bit into it. And that one thoughtful thing can go such a long way. And I just love that so much because in this digital era, it’s very easy for us to just shoot off emails.

But how can we keep that etiquette for emails and virtual meetings and social media interactions? Like how can we maintain professionalism and respect? In those mediums, because I feel like it’s so much easier when someone’s in front of you to go that extra mile. And I think a lot gets lost in emails and in virtual meetings and things like that.

So how can we maintain [00:35:00] that? professionalism and respect in the digital space. It’s very true, 

Jamila: Melissa, it’s very true. That’s so much more difficult to maintain it online, especially when you’re inboxed or blowing with emails, a lot of them are newsletters, a lot of them are things. I’ve been subscribed to but forgot to unsubscribe and sometimes we feel overwhelmed with that.

And I do find that oftentimes you’ll find like mass emails to you that really get lost. Like you don’t feel it personal anymore. You don’t feel like you’ve got a mail that is specifically addressed to you or with virtual meetings. You don’t really get to feel that person. The energy is what brings It’s, we were talking about earlier, it’s very difficult to really feel what the other person is feeling because we’re all on the screen.

These are the restrictions that unfortunately, there’s no magical way to be able to translate that energy by email or by a zoom meeting, but the best we can do is curate the way we write. It’s the writing that gets read like [00:36:00] the lines or like reading between the, in between the lines. So in the etiquette course, I also teach an etiquette, which is the social etiquette.

So, so digital etiquette. And so I always tell my students that, you know, everything that you write is going to be there. There’s a screenshot, there is like emailing, saving box, or any kind of comment you leave online, the way you show up in a meeting online, everything is recorded. So if something that you did or said, said in person might be forgotten, it will never be forgotten in a digital space.

So if you are careful about how you present yourself in person, you should be more so careful about how you present yourself off online is because nothing that you say will go unnoticed. And sometimes from some of the big incidents that have occurred and hate made it to, to the headlines, there were cases when people got fired from the jobs that were assigned to based on the [00:37:00] Facebook or Twitter posts that they wrote 10, 15 years ago.

So on their personal account or share the picture on their personal account. That was not professional. They were just a student back then, but even that had them get rid of, had them fired from their position that they probably worked all their life toward. And that I also don’t agree with my personal stance on that is that we all make mistakes.

We’re all human. So having to punish someone for something they did 15 years ago, when there were a different person at a different place in their life is not correct. Of course, if it’s not a criminal act, then we should be understanding that we’ve all had our dark moment. We’ve all had our fair share of mistakes.

No one is perfect. No one is perfect. And trying to cancel on people based on what they did many years ago is unfair. That’s my personal stance on this matter. But so to respond to your question, I do think that It’s so important if you’re going to take a second to think in in person meeting, take like 10 seconds to think in online meeting or online email.[00:38:00] 

No, not online email, but like email. And what I also find important is that when you’re reading your email or when you’re writing your email, take a time to reread it out loud, take a time to read like you’re the receiver, because sometimes something that we write might sound different in our voice because we can hear it with our own voice.

But the receiver will be reading it with the voice they have projected of you in their head. It’s not going to be your actual one. So it’s important to write an email in a way that could be best perceived rather than you might just be in a hurry and write something like, okay, like do what you want to do, maybe you just send it like, okay, do what you want to do.

And they read it like, okay, like do what you want to do. So. It’s just so, yeah, it’s true. People read it differently than what you have said. So if you want to, even if you don’t have time, then don’t respond at that, you know, rush moment because it can be read in a different way, interpreted in a different way.

Take your time with your emails and of course respond professionally within the [00:39:00] time limit, but always, if you want to, if you don’t have time to respond now, you can say like, hi, Melissa, I’ve received your email. Thank you so much. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. So that lets the person know that you’ve read the email, obviously you’ve received it, but you will respond in, in some time.

And then take your time to sit down and curate an email. And then so that it creates a good relationship or continues the relationship. 

Melissa: I definitely need to work on this because I tend to send very short emails. And not out of disrespect. It’s purely just like, yeah, all good. And mainly because I don’t want to actually waste other people’s time.

And often, sometimes people will send me an email and I don’t need to reply thanks or whatever, but. You know how, like, I like with the phones, you can just heart, so they know you’ve got it. I wish email could do that, so I don’t have to send an email back to them saying, Thank you, see you there. If they send me a calendar invite or something, I just wish we could, like, heart it, and then they know that we’ve got [00:40:00] it.

I actually think 

Jamila: there is, because I received emailing back of course with the Diplomatic Academy, and the coordinator there just sent me Thumbs up to my answers. So I was like, what is this? Like, you can thumb up my answer? Yeah, I think, but you know, I also want to note, and I think it’s very important, is that not every email should get an answer and that’s what people should understand.

Because I don’t want to clog people’s inboxes because I don’t want my inbox clogged. Yes. And it’s completely understandable. And that’s before we. Got used to instant responses. That’s what the emails were about. Would write an email if it required us to answer, we would answer, but perhaps an email was just an informative email.

For example, if you send me an email saying, Hey, Jamila, I’ve scheduled a meeting with you. We’re going to be talking about this and that. Okay, I might say, hi, Melissa, thank you, got it, noted, or I might not, because you’re just sending me an email to inform me about something that’s happening, you’re not calling me to action.

If you [00:41:00] told me like, please let me know when you received this email, because I would like to discuss X, Y, and Z, I would say, hi, Melissa, got your email, let’s talk about the detail. So it’s very important in your email to indicate what do you want the person to do. Maybe there is no call to action. There’s just a brief about what we’re going to do.

There’s no requirement on my part to respond to that and clog your email inbox by saying, okay, I got it. You’ve let 

Melissa: me off the hook. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. 

Jamila: No, of course that’s what it is. And I always tell my clients that when you write an email and you don’t get response, don’t be surprised because maybe you didn’t call anyone to action.

Maybe you didn’t tell the person to, Hey, like, listen, this is email about our meeting, I would like to schedule, is this time appropriate for you? So then I have to answer to that. But if you’re just briefing me on something that’s how things are going to be, I read it. I know it. There is no need for me to go back and forth.

Okay. Yes. Thank you. Received. Yes. It’s emails [00:42:00] are not chats. This is not a WhatsApp. Emails are more, I think we, I don’t know what happened in the last couple of years, but people have become more like they’ve returned emails into like instant chats. Which is not what it was intended to be. 

Melissa: No. And sometimes if someone does email me and I’m like, I’m just going to voice message you back on text because I’m like, this is like too long for me to even write.

Or sometimes I’ll record a response and then I just attach that to my email. The email, cause I’m like, it’s just so much easier to speak. And then they can hear your voice and they can hear authenticity and your warmth. It’s just so much easier. So often people will get audio responses from me because I just find it so much easier.

It is truly, it is true 

Jamila: that it’s much easier, but I always tell everyone that we have to be very careful with voice notes, sending voice notes. Unless we’ve asked permission [00:43:00] to do so. Even on social media? Especially on social media. Like when I, I get like DMs with my followers, like never having said hi to me, I don’t know who they are, and they just send me a long voice note, I never open it because it’s very intrusive.

Again, we’re talking about boundaries. The reason I say it’s intrusive is because. I might not be in a place to listen to a voice now, especially if it’s like a long one, I might be in the midst of something and you sent me something and I’m not able to open it. And you know how it is like, if you open a DM, you like close it.

It’s like, it’s marks that it’s read. And then we might lose it within the, the inbox that you’re getting. With a text, it’s so that you opened it, you probably read a little bit and you remember that someone asked you to about something, so you’ll always go back. Oh, like someone said, says something. I remember they wrote something.

With the voice note, you open, you see a huge voice note, you close it. Oh, I’ll get back to it. And then you might just get lost. And you might actually miss out on opportunity for someone to contact you. Hear what [00:44:00] you have to say, especially if you don’t know the person. The second with voice note is that not everyone has the time or patience to listen to voice notes.

And I know that our voices sound really pleasing to us, but they might not be sound so pleasing to the receiver. So a lot of people really don’t like receiving voice notes. I’ve learned it really along the way of teaching etiquette. And that’s why I always tell before sending a voice note, Send a brief like, hi, this is Jamila.

I would really like to talk to you about X, Y, and Z. If you don’t mind me, I’ll send you a voice note because it’s too long to write. And then they’ll say, yeah, sure. Like send a voice note or they’ll say, Oh, I appreciate like a text instead. I’ve received that answers before. So then I’ll try my best to send a text or if they said, yes, I’m sure.

And I’ll say like, you can listen to it whenever you can. It’s not an urgent matter because sometimes the things we say in a voice, I’m maybe you want my response by today. Maybe you are okay with waiting for a week. Right. And I will never know because I haven’t listened to a voice note. So it’s really [00:45:00] important to say that you’re going to send a voice note before you do so.

And sometimes these voice notes are recorded in like. public places, there’s like a background noise of something happening and they’re like talking to you. And it’s more informal, I would say. And I would be careful with using it only with people that are close to me and that I’ve already met and talked before.

So they know who I am, what kind of personality I have, but if it’s a first time encounter or interaction, or if I don’t know the person really well, I shy away from sending voice notes. Though now I am sending a lot of my notes because I can’t actually type properly because of my hand. But I always send saying like, Hi, I’m so sorry I can’t type because I had an injury like fractured my shoulder.

Is it okay if I send you a voice note? And then go ahead and do it. 

Melissa: So interesting and such a big perspective shift. Because Yes, it is informal. Like I’ve always wanted people that follow me, like I want them to [00:46:00] feel they’re my friend. Like I want them to feel that warmth from me. So I guess that’s another reason why I’ve done it.

Like I, I want them to feel that warmth from my message. So that is really interesting. Very interesting perspective shift. So thank you for that. I appreciate it. 

Jamila: But Melissa, definitely like if you’re talking to your audience and you want them to feel welcome in the world, obviously send a voice note. I was mostly explaining the situation where you are.

Starting on a business relationship, or if it’s more professional fueled, I would always keep, like, try to make sure that the person that is going to receive the voice note is comfortable receiving it. Because I have heard so many complaints about people telling me, like, how do I stop my, for example, manager from sending me like a two minute long voice note?

Like I don’t have the patience to listen. And also with the voice note, you can be saying, like, if you’re asked, I want to do something in a voice note and it requires like three actions. They might [00:47:00] lose it. They might not hear the third action because when you’re listening to something, you’re busy doing something else.

And it’s almost like, Oh, wait again. And they have to read, read, listen to it a couple of times. But when you are asking for instruction in a text, it’s like, like send this, edit this, do this. They can always refer back to it as a checklist. So there’s actually now a feature on the phone, I think, that can translate your voice note to a text.

Yes. Yeah. But I don’t want to listen to the voice note. I think that’s not especially for those that don’t want to listen to a voice note. Makes sense. 

Melissa: Yeah. So interesting. I just find them more convenient. I find I’m able to get across my message just with that warmth and my personality. So really interesting perspective.

I love that. Is there anything else that you think we need to know when it comes to business and etiquette? Anything that we haven’t touched on? 

Jamila: I think with business and etiquette, it’s just business etiquette is [00:48:00] more. It has more standard rules when it comes to, again, as I mentioned before, like international conferences where, or COP 29 or UN, like UN assembly meeting.

Obviously, if everyone were to translate their own culture, they wouldn’t be able to, again, handle this like protocol rules within, within this. So there’s also diplomatic protocol that guidelines people on how to behave, especially when they’re meeting people from different cultures. But I would say with that being said, though, business etiquette has certain standards of behavior in terms of when we’re dealing with people from different cultures, but when we are trying to handle business with Represents of one particular culture.

And we are the entrepreneur that’s handling clients from that, because I assume your audience is mostly like entrepreneurs that are doing business with all parts of the world. I would say the best thing that they could do for themselves and their business is to educate themselves on different cultures and understand how to approach people from different culture and traditions.

And if [00:49:00] they are going to do their research, take their time to understand how to handle them, they’re going to be always one step ahead of their competitors. Because you will be someone they can relate more to based on how you treat them. There is this, in body language, there’s this technique called mirroring.

It’s when we are mirroring each other in order to establish rapport. I will try to not copy, but like try to mirror your body language, your voice, your tone, the way you talk, and you will feel like you can trust me more because I’m on the same wavelength as you are. And this is a psychological trick.

Okay. So when it comes to etiquette, we have to mirror their culture, their etiquette, their lifestyle, their, the way they handle things so that they can feel that they can trust us because we are more relatable to them. It’s the same as you say, like, it’s the same why people would learn a language they’re working mostly with, like have clients mostly from.

When you speak their language, why do you feel like you can trust that person more or you [00:50:00] feel more related to that person? For example, if you’re working with Italians and you speak Italian, most likely they’re going to hire you or most likely they want to handle business with you because it feels like what they’re talking about and it is because you understand Italian.

And so learning their language is the same as learning their culture and learning etiquette rules of their culture. And it just makes you a more competitive, skilled 

Melissa: entrepreneur. I love it. So beautiful. And then everything that we’ve spoken about can be drip fed into your personal life as well and can only benefit your personal life.

So I love this so much. It’s so beautiful. Now, I want you to pretend that you have a magic wand and you could put one book in the school curriculum of every high school around the world. Now besides your books, which absolutely should be in the curriculum, there should be a whole course on etiquette.

What other book would you choose? It could be on any 

Jamila: topic. Is it an actual book? Like, does it have to be an actual or the wish, the one I. [00:51:00] An actual book or give me both. Have you got one you want to write? I bet you do. Yeah, I think, and there’s like, there’s day and age and that’s what I was teaching in a foreign school as well.

And I remember. How a teacher was struggling with kids having this labels of like, if you’re thin, you’re beautiful, if you’re like rich, then you are like, if you’re handsome, you’re rich, all these like stereotypical thinkings about what meant what, and we’re talking with her and she was like, what do you think we can do like in order to change that?

And I was saying, I think kids these days just don’t have the right role models because all they see is like the certain body image that makes you look like pretty, you’re only pretty if you have this. You’re only like successful if you have, like, if you have the money as Elon Musk. And I was telling the teacher to ask the kids to do a project where they would find people that are successful or that are successful in a way that they’re successful in what they do, but they don’t stereotypically fit into this model of what kids think [00:52:00] should a successful person look like.

And she was like, that’s such a great idea. And I was like, if they do it, if there, if there’s a research, they do it, they’re going to learn better about it rather than us trying to instruct them about beauty comes in all sizes and shapes, like success comes in all ways and all kinds of stories of success.

You know, you can start being successful at the age of 15. It’s completely fine. You don’t have to be successful, like super successful at the age of 21, which is what the world and social media is now teaching us, like you have to be in a rush to compete with everyone. And I think what the kind of a book I would really want to be out there is a book about, I guess, book about like breaking stereotypes, any kind of book that would make young generations see that it’s not just your way of living.

That’s the right way. So I guess a book about just people and cultures and traditions that would make them feel like you should be more kind and understanding towards others and not hate on each other [00:53:00] because they’re different. I think my slogan was like, different is beautiful. And like, I really hate the fact that nowadays we feel like we have to be so homogenized, like dress the same way, talk the same way, like look the same way, the standards of beauty and everything that have made people feel like if I’m not looking like that, then I’m not pretty.

And I blame it all on social media of the role models that are pumping into our. social media feed that makes us think like, all beauty should come in this kind of shape of an eyebrows or this lips and this curves, but it really doesn’t matter, like at the end of the day, it’s all about the energy. And so I would want to have a book, especially in high school for kids to see that success and beauty and all the things that they want to have comes in all shapes and forms, and I guess it’s, it could be a book of like, of biographies of people or a book about biographies of different cultures of people from different cultures and religions, especially nowadays, I think there’s such a clash between religions and people hating on each other because they’re of a [00:54:00] different faith.

And I would really want that not to be the case. So just because someone is covering their head doesn’t mean they are, uh, they come from a religion that. Uh, in any way harms women, or if someone is not covering their head, doesn’t mean that they are vulgar and they’re out there to seek men’s attention.

So. Just a book about that will spread more kindness. I don’t know what book that would be, but really something that changes that perspective. Beautiful. I love that. 

Melissa: Now let’s talk about how your day looks. You have two kids, you have a business. Talk us through a day in your life. I know no two days are ever the same, but All of your little rituals and routines you do.

I’m a very 

Jamila: disciplined person. I think the only way I can manage two kids, my whole entrepreneurship teaching and YouTube is just being super disciplined. What star 

Melissa: sign are you? I’m a character. And do you know your human design? I think I’m a generator. You sound like a generator. I’m [00:55:00] a generator too. Oh, okay.

I know. What sign are you? I’m an Aries. An 

Jamila: Aries. Oh, interesting. Wait, do I know Aries? Is it me? April. April? April. Oh, yeah. My son is Aries. I was like, okay, that sounds right. Oh, my son is Aries. Oh, they’re such homemakers. Look, everything beautiful. They’re like super aesthetic and like very loving, super gentle souls.

I know a lot about that. Yes. Yeah. Beautiful. Oh, I love it. So I think the way I’m able to balance it all is just being very disciplined. So up until the point I have broken my shoulder, I was super productive and very vicious. So my kids are nine and six. They go to school now. So majority of the time they’re in school and then they have extracurricular activities that I’ve tried to organize most of them at home.

If I could be home and do my things and still manage their like classes. And my day starts very early, it’s like 6. 30, I wake up, [00:56:00] take care of myself, and then I start waking them up, getting them ready for school, and then they’re out of the door by like 7. 45 ish. And then I just have the whole day up until like three, three to 4 p.

1. to myself. So that’s the time when I’m like trying to fit in most of my work. So it’s either YouTube shoots or zoom meetings, business calls, collaborations, anything that I have to be actively like present in and then maybe travel here and there. I tried to put into my sports there. I used to be horseback riding or like I work out.

So it would usually be within that timeframe. And then once my kids are back from school, it depends if they’re busy with classes, maybe online or doing most of their language classes online and, or the piano class. As you can see, we have a piano here. So. They do most of that, those kinds of classes at home.

So I’m just at home either reading or watching something or preparing for next day, but I’m still like managing them because they have troubles yet, like connecting to classes online. I need, they always [00:57:00] need assistance with that. But, and then it’s our like family time slash like get ready for bedtime.

So anytime between eight to 10 is my time with them. So we talk about our day. We’re playing with our dog. Yeah. That we have recently got, it’s a very small one, little poodle, and then I prepare them to bed, we bathe and then I read a book always before bedtime. It’s a ritual we have. And then they go to bed quite early.

So like nine, nine thirties, they’re in bed. And then I just have the rest, like an hour, maybe if I’m not too sleepy to watch something funny to uplift me or read a book, and then I’m off to bed. I actually do go to bed quite early because I wake up early and I’m like on my foot the whole day. So that’s basically all my 

Melissa: days.

Cool. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I’ve got three rapid fire questions for you now. Are you ready? I am. What is one thing that we can do today for our health? 

Jamila: Interesting. Sleep more. I’m an advocate of sleeping and I think I don’t necessarily just talk about like [00:58:00] the night sleep, but I’m an advocate of like super power nap.

That you should take within the, like, in the afternoon or maybe 20 minutes. You can snooze. We all have time for 20 minutes. Like it’s, I don’t believe when people say that I don’t have time to nap. You have time to be on social media. So you have time to nap as well. Make sure you just do it 20 minutes or 30 minutes, but not more because you will fall into deeper sleep and it’d be very difficult to get out of that.

Melissa: Yeah, absolutely. I love it. All right. What is one thing that we can do today for our wealth? I guess make the money work 

Jamila: for us. Or not have like still money that like lays there. So like invest into something, try to find ways that can, um, make out of money. Is that makes sense? A second would be safe. Like young generation have an issue with saving.

They will splurge as soon as they get their paycheck, they will splurge into like, like take away coffee. Come on, you can get your coffee at home and like. take it with you. You can, of [00:59:00] course, indulge into things like that from time to time, but learn also to save because savings are important to help you build a certain kind of like budget that you can then invest into something or like build something for 

Melissa: yourself.

But I think it’s also really important to know what you’re saving for because otherwise I feel like it’s a lot harder for people. So if you know what you’re saving for, like maybe it’s a car, maybe it’s A home deposit. Maybe it’s, I don’t know, but like know what you’re saving for. Like, why are you saving?

I think that’s really important. 

Jamila: Yeah, definitely. How, when you have a goal, when you have something to save for, you definitely will be more disciplined. But even if you have everything, you have a car, you have a home, say it’s all settled for you, but you have to find. A discipline, and that’s why I’m saying discipline is so important is the book about how the Richard Mann in Babylon, the reason that people, some people are never able to like have money is because they never say like a saving 10 percent of your total income, even like, again, a drop [01:00:00] in the ocean is foreign, but it’s so true.

Like if you look long term effect of your saving, but then again, I said, like tie the two together, say, but also put its money into something that will bring you money. So first buying a car is actually not an investment because as soon as you take it out of a salon, its price has, you know, deflated. It’s just more of something that we enjoy having or like the comfort of it, but maybe buy stocks, buy bonds, I don’t know, invest into some kind of a startup.

Something that you can’t possibly bring you back money. 

Melissa: Yeah, I love it. Okay. And the last one, what is one thing we can do for more love in our life? You know what it is? 

Jamila: The more love you give, the more you receive. It’s something that I’ve learned and it’s about everything. The more we put in there, the more we receive.

And love is definitely something that is, it’s like a karmic thing. So find things to love or find. People or living things to love, if you love your flowers, they’re going to bring so much joy to you, like love back to you. [01:01:00] So I do believe in that. And, and also I would say the same about joy. You can find or have more joy when you look for that joy in things.

The more you look into that, the more you’re going to get it. 

Melissa: Yeah. Beautiful. I love that so much. This has been so beautiful. You are helping and serving so many people with your work. So I want to know what I and the listeners can do to give back to you today. How can we serve you today? Oh, thank you so much.

Well, 

Jamila: I love sharing my knowledge with others because that the joy I get from sharing is incredible and the way I’ve been able to help people’s life in small and big ways, in different ways that from the email that I receive. It is what is really the give back that I get in terms of, of the way they can find me or see more of my work.

I have an etiquette movie club where every month I publish etiquette movie analysis. So i’ve done over different like 30 different movie analysis like titanic devil wears prada Like some popular tv shows as well that i’ve analyzed from etiquette standpoint of view [01:02:00] and then they can join that They can follow me on YouTube if they wish to, they can also get my books, they’re available on my website and actually available for shipment to Australia as well.

They weren’t in the beginning, Australia is too far away, but now they are, they can also, if they wish to learn more in depth about etiquette, they can join my pre recorded online courses that are also available on my website and I do provide a certificate of completion. The one is called Western Formal Dining etiquette from A to Z that prepares you for everything.

Formal dining if you need to impress your in laws or meet the business partner for lunch. And the second course is called the Art of Entertaining at Home. So it’s really about what you are learning in school, how to set up a table in a formal way and how to decorate a table based on four different Seasons I’ve, I’ve shown it, so it’s more of a video tutorial of how to have guests over, how to prepare for guests.

And yeah, that’s how they can find more about my work. And just if, if they listen to me, that’s enough of a give back of their 

Melissa: [01:03:00] energy and time. Sounds beautiful. And we’ll link to all of that in the show notes. Thank you so much. This has been so insightful. I’ve absolutely loved it. You have inspired me so much.

So thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing with us. All of your wisdom. It has been a delight. 

Jamila: Thank you so much, Melissa, for having me. Honestly, it would be. The most interesting talk I’ve had, because most of it was really focused on etiquette. And these fire questions at the end really caught me off guard because I was not ready to answer because they were more personal.

So it was a very personal and very touching talk that we had. Thank you so much for having me. 

Melissa: Pleasure. Thank you for being here.

I hope you got so much out of this. I sure did. And I feel so inspired. I want to look into her Entertaining at Home program because I want to be that host. I want to be that person that goes the extra mile and makes that effort to make people feel really seen and loved. That is what I want. So I hope you got [01:04:00] a lot out of this.

And if you did, please follow the show and leave me a review on Apple podcasts, because that means that I can keep getting on these amazing guests for you. And now come and tell me on Instagram at Melissa Ambrosini, what you got from this episode. I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode and what is your biggest key takeaway.

Come and let me know. And before I go, I just wanted to say, thank you so much for being here, for wanting to be the best, the healthiest and the happiest version of yourself. And for showing up today for you, you rock. Now, if there’s someone in your life that you can think of that would really benefit from this episode, please share it with them right now.

You can take a screenshot, share it on your social media, email it to them, text it to them, do whatever you’ve got to do to get this in their ears. And until next time, don’t forget that love is sexy, healthy is liberating and wealthy isn’t a dirty word.

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Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be SO grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple podcasts, that way we can inspire and educate even more people together.

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