Meet Marty Estelle Lundstrom of Polished Professionals in Galleria

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marty Estelle Lundstrom.

Marty Estelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in a family where manners mattered. My grandmother and my mother had both gone to finishing school – they don’t really exist anymore but think 2 years post high school of manners training. Needless to say, elbows on the table was a no-no. That upbringing impacted me as I moved through college, law school, and my professional life.

In college, I worked in admissions and served as student body president. I had so many friends ask me about manners and there was not really a solution available to them besides a 5 inch thick Emily Post book (which is a great, albeit, tedious resource). So, I started working with my fellow students to prepare them for graduate school interviews and networking dinners by doing tutorials with my mom. Our goal was to help students get their foot in the door and have the confidence and social skills they needed to put their best foot forward.

As I continued in my professional career, I worked on recruitment with my law firm. In that role, I saw so many mistakes people would make (and candidly I have made some myself) about the unspoken rules of etiquette in the workplace. In my mind, that was a shame that qualified people on paper may not get a chance because they committed some faux pas they may not have even know they committed. So, I set out to do something about it.

In 2010, my mother and I got certified by the Etiquette Institute of St. Louis in children and professionals’ etiquette training and began Manners Pro, Inc. (www.mannerspro.com) to educate all ages on modern manners. That business still continues today and we work with many Houston area businesses, universities, law schools, girl scout troops, law firms and private clients.

I wanted to put a more public face on Manners Pro, so I started blogging and using social media to create Polished Professionals LLC (www.polished-professionals.com) in May 2016. I knew that putting together a complete package was important for any professional to get ahead. What does that mean? A complete package means you feel confident in your skills (social and business), you look put together in what you wear, you know how to network with ease, you are not rattled by social situations, and you can make others feel comfortable. I created Polished Professionals to be a resource for working women to get inspiration, education and find a community of their fellow professionals to conquer the workaday world with style and poise.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, I had never had a Facebook account – literally – until the middle of 2017. So needless to say in 2016 social media in any form was foreign to me. I had been working as an attorney for a retail company and I worked on contracts for social media influencers. I learned that social media was the way to get people coming to your website in this new age of marketing and I thought that is how I need to grow my business so I set out to learn social media to make that work for Polished Professionals LLC. It definitely was a bumpy road but I found some great resources and just started studying – and having a sister 18 years my junior is always helpful when trying to learn new technology (wink).

Polished Professionals LLC – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Polished Professional is a resource for working women to conquer the workaday world with style and poise. I am a practicing attorney, a small business executive, and a blogger so I keep my plate full but I think that allows me to see several aspects of the working world – as a boss, as an employer, as an owner, as an employee and, as an entrepreneur. I am most proud of the community that I have been able to build with people from all over the world. I have amazing followers on social media and my blog I am so blessed to know them and work with them as we all try to work through our working lives with grace.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is two things.

Starting is first. I did not know anything about social media or blogging when I started Polished Professionals LLC. I only I had a vision that I have tried to stick to and I started – slowly at first with Instagram then moved to a blog then to other social media channels. I have definitely evolved in the last year and a half as a social media influencer and have made mistakes along the way. But, starting is the only way to become an expert in anything so just do it!

The second definition of success is confidence in yourself. Confidence does not mean that you know everything. You never will. But confidence means you have the determination to figure out the unknown and not let obstacles get in the way of reaching your goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.polished-professionals.com
• Email: polishedprofessionalsinfo@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polished_professionals/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polishedprofessionalsblog/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/polishedprofes
• Yelp: Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/polishedprofessionals/pins/
• Other: Tumblr – https://polished-professionals.tumblr.com

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