Meet Grace Lee

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Grace Lee's dynamic, motivational keynote speeches show how easy it is to make changes in your etiquette that will do more for your career and social life than any other single thing. Her interactive talks and workshops always inspire her audiences to new levels of self-discovery and growth.

Grace Etsuko Lee is an author, speaker, international businesswoman and president of Grace Lee International. Grace teaches the proper use of social graces and international business etiquette, which fosters self-confidence and leadership.

Grace’s experience spans more than two decades in international business. Born in Japan and educated in Asia and the U.S., she's bilingual and equally at home in both cultures.

She spent the first 14 years of her life in Japan. Her mother, who came from an influential Japanese family, and her father – a West Indian, Ivy League-educated diplomat – made sure she was well-trained in both Japanese and Western social graces. This bi-cultural upbringing sparked an interest in etiquette at an early age. After becoming a certified John Robert Powers Finishing School Instructor, Grace opened her own finishing school, Confidence International, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Today, her background in etiquette training combined with her 20 years experience in domestic and international marketing, distribution and consulting to give Grace a unique perspective on multicultural interactions.

Grace is an internationally recognized business and etiquette consultant for corporations such as Hansen Natural Juices, Exxon, American Airlines, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce. She has given popular workshops in Japan, including “How to Market and Distribute in the U.S.” and “Western Business Etiquette.”

Today Grace Lee teaches Western and international social graces and business etiquette with an Asian influence. Her unique ability to blend Western and Asian etiquette with the customs of other cultures shows students how to expand their boundaries and gives them the confidence to handle any social situation.

She is the author of an etiquette book—"Social Graces Essential Tools for Successful Ladies"; it’s finishing school in a workbook. Grace’s interactive workbook teaches the proper thinking of success and the “how to” of feminine social graces and international business etiquette.

Grace also authored her memoir, "Little Caterpillar in Training: A Culture in Transition and Its Mixed Child in Post-War Japan", about growing up as an “outcast” in a prominent upper class Japanese family after World War II. Her short stories and remembrances are not only heartwarming but also educational and humorous.

Your knowledge of etiquette and social graces can have enormous impact on how others perceive you and treat you in social situations - but most negative perceptions can be turned into positives through practicing these simple, forgotten arts. Grace Lee's dynamic motivational keynote speeches show how easy it is to make changes in your etiquette that will do more for your career and social life than any other single thing. Her interactive talks and workshops always inspire her audiences to new levels of self-discovery and growth.

“Americans are unique because they can select the best traditions from other cultures and incorporate them into their own,” says Grace. “This allows the best social graces from every culture to become part of America."