Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute

What Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute does

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute (CELI) is a privately held professional training services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, delivering in-person and virtual etiquette and leadership development programs to corporate clients, women professionals, teens, and individual consumers. Founded by Tiffany L. Adams, a second-generation Protocol School of Washington graduate, the firm operates a portfolio of seven core training programs spanning business etiquette, distinguished dining, international protocol, women's leadership, emerging leader development, and combined etiquette-plus-dining summits (e.g., 'Leadership at Its Finest' and 'Dine Like a Diplomat'). Delivery formats range from 1.5- to 2-hour workshops to multi-week, multi-session engagements that can include multi-course dining tutorials.

The company's underlying 'technology' is a proprietary, PSOW-aligned curriculum rather than a software platform; there are no APIs, mobile apps, or digital products beyond the 2023 Amazon Bestseller book 'Polished: The Guide to Excellence for the Modern Professional,' which serves as a companion learning asset. Notable named clients include GE Aerospace (multi-year intern and early-career training), Macy's Inc. (HQ in NYC), altafiber, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo Advisors, First Financial Bank, Dinsmore law firm, Barnes Dennig, AtriCure, Associated Builders & Contractors, Miami University, and SMPS, spanning financial services, retail, aerospace, telecom, law, accounting, medical devices, construction, and education.

CELI generates revenue through customized enterprise training workshops (quote-based, multi-year contracts), keynote speaking engagements, private/executive/family coaching, gift certificates, and book sales. Marketing is executed through content (blog, Cincinnati Business Courier columns, book), earned media (FOX19 TV, BusinessWise Radio), and direct enterprise field sales, supported by a Training Request Form on its website. The company has no institutional funding, no subsidiaries, and operates as a bootstrapped LLC with 11-50 employees.

Name

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute

Legal name

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute, LLC

Website

https://etiquetteplease.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute (CELI) is a Cincinnati-based professional training firm that delivers customized etiquette, dining, and leadership workshops to corporate clients, women professionals, teens, and individuals, led by founder Tiffany L. Adams under a Protocol School of Washington-aligned curriculum.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Etiquette and Leadership Training Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Workplace Communication & Professional Etiquette (EDAAAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

DEI, Inclusive Leadership & Cultural Intelligence Coaching (EDABANAJ)

Keywords

• Business etiquette training
• Leadership development
• Professional coaching
• Dining etiquette
• Corporate workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Training Workshops: CELI provides customized business etiquette and leadership training workshops to corporate clients. Sessions range from 1.5-2 hours to multi-day summits with dining tutorials. Pricing appears to be quote-based for enterprise clients.
2. Speaking Engagements: Keynote presentations and speaking services for conferences, summits, and corporate events on topics including women's leadership, business etiquette, and professional development.
3. Executive and Private Coaching: Family, executive, and private coaching sessions for individual professional development.
4. Book Sales - Polished: Sale of the Amazon Bestseller 'Polished: The Guide to Excellence for the Modern Professional' which augments CELI's training curriculum.
5. Gift Certificates: Gift certificates for training and consultation services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute (CELI) provides professional etiquette and leadership development training services through customized in-person workshops, multi-course dining tutorials, summits, and one-on-one coaching. The company serves corporate clients, women leaders, emerging young professionals, and global business professionals with curriculum modules covering business etiquette, dining etiquette, international protocol, women's leadership, and professional communication. Programs range from 1.5-2 hour sessions to multi-day summits delivered at client locations or via virtual platforms.

Product overview

Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute (CELI) is a professional training services company offering a portfolio of etiquette and leadership development programs. The core offerings include seven distinct training programs: The Competitive Advantage: Business Etiquette, The Competitive Advantage: Distinguished Dining, Leadership at Its Finest: The Complete Package (combining business and dining), Dine Like a Diplomat (six-course formal dining tutorial), Succeeding in the International Arena (global protocol), The Well-Rounded Emerging Leader (teen leadership), and Women's Leadership: Empowering Your Higher Self. Additional services include speaking engagements, private coaching, and an Amazon Bestseller book 'Polished'. Programs are delivered as workshops, seminars, summits, and coaching sessions, both in-person and virtually via Zoom.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Competitive Advantage: Distinguished Dining A dining etiquette workshop teaching professional savviness in the dining room, covering communication, host and guest duties, dining dos and table taboos, American and Continental/European dining styles, and toasting techniques. For corporate clients and professionals.
• The Competitive Advantage: Business Etiquette An interactive workshop (1.5-2 hours to full day) designed for leadership acceleration in the workplace, empowering clients to project confidence, authority, credibility, and polish with heightened self-awareness. For corporate clients and professionals.
• Leadership at Its Finest: The Complete Package A comprehensive summit with a four-course meal integrating business and dining etiquette, combining The Competitive Advantage: Distinguished Dining and Business Etiquette into one package. For corporate leadership audiences.
• Dine Like a Diplomat Signature six-course formal dining tutorial and interactive seminar providing a white tablecloth dining experience for world-class competitors in business settings. For executives, diplomats, and senior leaders.
• Succeeding in the International Arena A 1.5-2 hour workshop or half-day summit focused on global business etiquette, cultural awareness, cross-cultural communication, and international protocol for working in global companies or traveling abroad. For globally-engaged professionals and multinational teams.
• The Well-Rounded Emerging Leader A dynamic series for high-achievers with leadership aspirations, comprising four 2-hour workshops with a three-course meal dining tutorial covering etiquette fundamentals, global awareness, netiquette, and dining skills. For teens, college students, and young professionals.
• Women's Leadership: Empowering Your Higher Self A customized workshop, professional day, or keynote speaking engagement designed to champion women's leadership using business etiquette, focusing on personal branding, communication skills, power body language, and gender equity. For women professionals and corporate women's leadership groups.
• Speaking Engagements Keynote speaking engagements by Tiffany Adams for corporate events, conferences, and organizational leadership summits on topics including women's leadership, business etiquette, and professional development.
• Family, Executive, & Private Coaching One-on-one coaching sessions for families, executives, and private individuals seeking personalized etiquette and leadership development.
• Gift Certificates Gift certificates available for training and consultation services, presented as memorable gifts for milestones.
• Polished: The Guide to Excellence for the Modern Professional Amazon Bestseller book authored by Tiffany L. Adams serving as a companion resource to CELI's training curriculum and a useful long-term reference for clients and professionals.
• The Next Norm: Professional Virtual Presence & Remote Workplace Etiquette Virtual presence and remote workplace etiquette training program delivered via Zoom; covers professional communication in remote and hybrid work settings. For corporate teams and individual professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 94% of Dinsmore attorneys rated CELI's workshop 'profoundly interesting and extremely useful'
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Protocol School of Washington (PSOW)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Tiffany Adams is a second-generation Protocol School of Washington graduate. PSOW is the global industry leader in training corporate etiquette consultants. CELI's curriculum is aligned with PSOW standards, and Adams collaborates with PSOW President Pamela Eyring on content including a joint article on women's leadership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Aperian Global: Specialist in cross-cultural and global leadership training, including the GlobeSmart platform. Aperian is the most direct larger competitor to CELI's "Succeeding in the International Arena" curriculum, offering enterprise-scale delivery CELI currently cannot.
• American Management Association: Long-standing provider of corporate professional development seminars, webinars, and certificate programs. AMA is a likely substitute vendor for the same enterprise training budgets CELI pursues, with deeper catalog and brand.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts / Crucial Conversations): Corporate training company built on bestsellers like "Crucial Conversations" and offering courses on leadership, communication, and interpersonal influence - adjacent to CELI's communication and leadership curricula but with broader content and larger distribution.
• Dale Carnegie & Associates: A large, established corporate professional development franchise covering leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills. Dale Carnegie addresses many of the same enterprise L&D buyers as CELI but at materially greater scale and with broader course catalogs.
• Berlitz Corporation: Global language and cross-cultural communication provider with a deep corporate training footprint. Berlitz competes with CELI for the cross-cultural and global business communication share of corporate L&D budgets but at much larger scale across many more geographies.

Direct peers

• The Protocol School of Texas (Diane Gottsman): Diane Gottsman is a nationally recognized etiquette expert and founder of a Texas-based protocol school; she delivers keynote speeches, workshops, and corporate training on business etiquette and modern manners, competing directly with CELI for enterprise engagements.
• Pachter & Associates (Barbara Pachter): Barbara Pachter is a leading business etiquette speaker, author, and consultant offering keynote talks, workshops, and executive coaching on professional presence - a near-identical offering profile to CELI's core business.
• Protocol School of Washington (PSOW): Industry-leading etiquette and protocol training provider; CELI's founder is a 2nd-generation PSOW graduate, and PSOW sets the curriculum standards that CELI follows. They train competitors directly and offer overlapping corporate etiquette programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cincinnati Etiquette & Leadership Institute