All you have to do is meet Tami Claytor and you’ll quickly understand how she has become a well-known image and etiquette consultant in the New York City area. Though she has been in the image and etiquette consulting field for 20 years, Tami spent a lifetime preparing for the role.
Her training began early, accompanying her equally respected mother, Grace Gourdine on world travels to study international business protocol in preparation for meeting foreign diplomats and heads of states. Tami was expected to conduct herself with grace and charm, which is exactly what she did. Even as a child, others couldn’t help but notice Tami’s impeccable manners and responded to her ability to exude confidence and style.
Those remarkable and unique traits stayed with her throughout her early professional career. Tami worked for Pace University from 2000 to 2007. Her positions included Associate Director of the Midtown Center, Associate Director of Adult Services Administration, the American Humanics Campus Director and Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President for the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Life. Each and every role commanded refined, meticulous attention to detail to connect with the wide variety of people she interacted with on a daily basis.
Prior to joining Pace, Tami was the Evening Dean of Students at Taylor Business Institute and taught English, math, business, career development, and college survival skills courses. She has the honor of being the youngest dean in the school’s history.
Tami’s passion for promoting social justice is exemplified in her cultural diversity workshops. Her curriculum is a culmination of cross-cultural awareness gained over two decades of her extensive travels across five continents studying the cultures of Egypt, Austria, South Africa, Japan, French Polynesia, Belgium, and Ecuador, to name a few.
Tami sees civic engagement as a duty, not a hobby. She volunteers for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, bringing awareness to Multiple Myeloma, a rare, incurable cancer that her mother battles. She volunteers at Lighthouse Guild International, Inc., teaching interview skills to the blind and visually impaired. Tami is an advocate for those with special needs such as physical, mental and learning challenges.
This passion shines in Always Appropriate, her boutique image and etiquette consulting firm, which specializes in image and etiquette workshops for college students, private companies and community organizations, as well as, individual coaching sessions. Though her clients come from all walks of life, the goal is the same – helping each one reach his or her personal and professional goals with great style and unfaltering grace.
Clark University, Worcester, MA.
• B.A. Economics with a concentration in international relations
The Ophelia DeVore School of Charm, New York, NY
The McBurney Prep School, New York, NY
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
• Image Consulting Certificate
Baruch College, New York, NY
• Business, corporate communication & marketing graduate courses
Putting her wealth of creative and business strategies to work, Grace Gourdine is special advisor and consultant to Always Appropriate. But some might say her most important role is being Tami Claytor’s most trusted confidant and mother.
Perhaps Grace’s name sounds familiar, or you recognize her face. No wonder. She was the pioneer of experiential heritage travel for African Americans, developing custom international tours and itineraries. Eventually, she trained other travel agents in this type of travel. Over the years, Grace completed 60 travel industry courses, and traveled to some 40 countries.
Grace was featured in the New York Times, Travel Agent magazine and October Weekly magazine for her work with Mrs. Sadat, First Lady of Egypt on handicap travel to Egypt.
Grace served as president for the Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped (SATH). During her tenure she worked closely with New York legislators to install sidewalk ramps for people in wheelchairs. Part of the experience included a luncheon featuring then New York City Mayor, Ed Koch. Championing the rights of the developmentally delayed, Grace was honored to serve as president of Community League.
As spokesperson for Light the Night’s national campaign, Grace was featured on posters, brochures, billboards and buses across the country, and she “graced” the cover of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) brochure. She is fighting Multiple Myeloma. In 2005, Dr. Max Gomez of NBC News interviewed her for a story on battling cancer.
A pivotal moment in Grace’s life happened shortly after a divorce. Tami’s pediatrician offered some very astute advice that would change both of their lives. He said, “It would be nice if the two of you could get to know each other, mother and daughter. Because you need that right now.”
So Grace planned a mother-daughter trip to Tahiti. “That was such a good thing,” Grace says. “After that, there was no looking back because Tami became a little girl who had a chance to see the world. Every year I made sure we selected a different country to visit.”
It’s hard to believe she had time for another career, but Grace took an early retirement after 30 years as a manager for NY Telephone Co.
