A Personal Beginning
Several years ago, I stepped unexpectedly into a business development role in a company my husband had started. My work put me across the table from business partners, negotiating contracts and walking into boardrooms and offices where I did not yet feel entirely at ease.
I knew how to interact with people, but professional environments felt different. I could give the handshake and carry myself with poise, yet that poise sometimes felt more like a costume than a natural expression of who I was.
Etiquette gave me a framework.
Through learning and practice, the unfamiliar became familiar. And with familiarity came ease.
I could listen rather than prepare my next response. I could notice rather than perform. As I became less preoccupied with myself, I became more attentive to the people around me.
The rules mattered, but they were never the destination. They gave structure to something far more meaningful: consideration for others.
That understanding became the beginning of Manner & Mien.
Mien is the outward expression of inner character.
Mien—pronounced "meen"
That idea sits at the heart of our name and our work. Etiquette gives consideration a form—in how we greet someone, listen, carry ourselves, express gratitude, or make another person feel welcome.
At first, these practices may require intention. Through repetition, they become familiar, and what once required thought begins to come naturally.
In time, consideration becomes part of how we move through the world.
What begins as manner becomes mien.
At first, these practices may require intention. Through repetition, they become familiar, and what once required thought begins to come naturally.
In time, consideration becomes part of how we move through the world.
What begins as manner becomes mien.
What We Practice, We Become
Etiquette is often thought of as something external—a collection of rules governing behavior.
But repeated acts of consideration have a way of shaping the person who practices them.
When we practice listening, we become better listeners. When we practice gratitude, we become more grateful. When we practice noticing others, we become more attentive to the people around us.
In this way, etiquette becomes more than something we do. It becomes part of who we are.
We are not merely teaching the practices of etiquette; we are cultivating the character from which they naturally flow.
But repeated acts of consideration have a way of shaping the person who practices them.
When we practice listening, we become better listeners. When we practice gratitude, we become more grateful. When we practice noticing others, we become more attentive to the people around us.
In this way, etiquette becomes more than something we do. It becomes part of who we are.
We are not merely teaching the practices of etiquette; we are cultivating the character from which they naturally flow.
Character→Conduct→
Presence→Influence
CharacterWhat we value.
ConductHow those values take form.
PresenceWhat others experience around us.
InfluenceWhat others carry forward.
Goodwill has a way of traveling beyond the person who first receives it.
ConductHow those values take form.
PresenceWhat others experience around us.
InfluenceWhat others carry forward.
Goodwill has a way of traveling beyond the person who first receives it.
Meet the Founder
Kelly Zakariasen founded Manner & Mien from a belief that etiquette is most meaningful when it becomes an expression of genuine consideration for others.
Drawing from firsthand business experience and professional etiquette training, she teaches with an emphasis on practical understanding, thoughtful application, and the people at the heart of every encounter.
Drawing from firsthand business experience and professional etiquette training, she teaches with an emphasis on practical understanding, thoughtful application, and the people at the heart of every encounter.