In a nutshell, American School of Charm is whatever we make of it! That’s, in fact, exactly the point.
I’m Ali, the woman who envisioned the American School of Charm back in 2018. My daughters think it sounds like a nursery school. Some wonder if it’s all about etiquette.
Honestly, it’s a constant evolution by design or necessity. My original plan was to create a space to encourage creativity and joy within the lives of women all over (yes, we do have some male readers … happy to have you here!). Life, however, has a funny way of making plans useless.
This is becoming more of a personal account of my journey to make it on my own. There are many meanings to this and you can choose whatever way you want to interpret it to fit your own pleasure.
I’m a single mom of three amazing daughters who fell in love with a wonderful man. Blending our lives wasn’t a slam dunk and after 5-years together, I’m now striking out on my own with my youngest daughter, Stella, in tow until she goes off to college. Oh, and there’s Sebastian my Collie, and PJ our fat-cat around too.
As I explore this new world of being on my own, I’m going to be tackling lots of projects to make it more fun, beautiful, personal, and creative. Those are the aspects I’ll share with you through tutorial posts and videos.
I’m expecting some great times ahead as well as some, frankly, fall on my face moments. Life is messy after all but I’m going to share with you how I’m trying to make it myself and how you can as well. That might be metaphorically or literally, we’ll just have to see!
If you’ve been a reader for a while then you’ll notice changes. Because my new journey requires me to spread myself around a lot more (momma has to pay the bills), I’m narrowing the scope of the content to what’s been most popular in the past: decorating, crafts, DIY, holiday, and easy recipes.
There will still be great content albeit a little less often. But seriously, how many of you were keeping up with it all anyway? Right?!
So let’s lighten up and have some fun, in spite of the twists and turns thrown our way. It’s time to take life by the horns and make it ourselves!
Namaste,
My official bio:
Primary Education:
- Skaneateles High School (New York)
- Saint Mary’s College (Indiana)
- Babson College (Massachusetts) – Bachelor of Science with a double major in Finance and Marketing and a minor in Communications
CERTIFICATIONS & Training
Many of these are no longer maintained.
- Pilates: Stott Pilates Certified Instructor (450+ hours)
- Yoga: Yoga One Teacher Training Program (130 hours)
- Health Coach: Institute of Integrative Nutrition Certified
- Real Estate: Real Estate Broker and Sales Person Certified
- Investments: Series 24, 7, 6, 63, and Life Insurance & Annuities Certified
WORK EXPERIENCE:
- Retail Buyer, Merchandiser, and Management (Lechmere, Nike, Talbots)
- Banking Management and Training (1st National Bank of MD, Allfirst Bank, M&T Bank)
- Real Estate Broker (Shorewest Realtors)
- Fleet Management (Doering Fleet Management)
- Paraprofessional (Westlawn Elementary School)
- Fitness – Aerobics, Pilates, Yoga (YMCA, Hershey Medical Center, Pilates From A to Z, Fox Point Jewish Community Center, Sky Yoga)
- Graphic Design & Website Design (Designs from A to Z)
