Foxglove Cotillion instills skills for success
Reprinted with permission of The Clayton Tribune
By Matt Payne | Journalist
Originally published in the Clayton Tribune Vol. 119, No. 33, Thursday, August 8, 2016
Cotillion is a word that might conjure images of young boys and girls uncomfortably wearing formal attire while learning the intricacies of aging societal rules.
Page Rhoad strongly dislikes that.
Rhoad is the owner of Foxglove Cotillion, Rabun County’s only such company. She wants to rework the public’s perception on etiquette classes from that of a stuffy affair to a fun social activity providing a new generation of a beneficial skillset.
“Our tagline is ‘Social skills for the social media generation,’” Rhoad said. “We want to instill in young children the skills they need before high school and before college. They are business skills, but they are more than business skills.”
Rhoad previously owned several successful cotillion operations. By 2014, she had been out of the game for a number of years. But around Christmas of that year, two of her four children, Clifton and Caroline Rhoad, surprised her with a website and a business card displaying the new business name.
“I said, ‘No thank you, I’m retired.’” Page said. “They said you have two weeks to think about it and we’re your business partners.”
By summer 2015, the business was up and running as students signed up for the first series of classes.
Page Rhoad’s preferred age group is that of children between fifth and eighth grades. The more socially and physically awkward the student, the more she enjoys teaching them.
Clifton Rhoad, an Atlanta-based strategist and Page Rhoad’s oldest child, said his own experiences in the program and his mother’s ability to connect with young people created in him the urge to see his mother return to the business.
“I don’t have a passion for etiquette,” Rhoad said. “I have a passion for giving children tools that will help them in the next step of life.”
That doesn’t mean manners are not a big deal. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
The name “Foxglove” aptly describes the family’s view on manners, as the foxglove plant is considered beneficial to healing when used in small amounts. In larger doses, Page Rhoad said, it can be deadly.
“In the right amount, manners are tools But if you use it as a weapon, it’s deadly,” Page said.
The family also places emphasis on the purpose of the classes, which are not to allow students to gain an air of superiority over others. The goal is to use what’s learned as a tool to help bring people together.
“Etiquette isn’t something that’s supposed to divide people. It’s something that’s actually suppose to bring them together,” Clifton Rhoad said, “because you’re teaching a kid how to make another kid comfortable no matter who they’re around.”
More information about the classes and Foxglove Cotillion can be found on its website at www.foxglovecotillion.com.
