Meghan Markle's First Job Trained Her to Be "Personable" Long Before She Became a Duchess

Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) seems like she was born to be royal. The former Suits actress has fit seamlessly into so many aspects of the royal family that it's easy to forget she grew up in America and not in some grand castle in the United Kingdom.

But, even though Meghan didn't grow up in a castle (opens in new tab) officially training to be a future royal, she always wasn't just born a fully-formed duchess-in-waiting. Apparently, Meghan picked up a key royal skill at her first job.

No, that skill was not holding a metal suitcase (still waiting for that particular bit of on-the-job training to come in handy at a royal engagement) because Meghan's résumé starts long before her Deal or No Deal days. Meghan's first foray into the workforce came when she was just 13 and took a gig at a place called Humphrey Yogart (opens in new tab) (GET IT?) in Los Angeles.

Meghan's former boss, pun-tastic froyo shop owner Paula Sheftel, spilled details about what middle and high school Meghan (opens in new tab) was like on the job. Unsurprisingly, she described the Duchess of Sussex as a hard worker who was liked by customers, according to Express (opens in new tab). 

Meghan worked (opens in new tab) 10-12 hours a week for minimum wage (which, at the time, was $4 an hour, apparently) at her part-time gig, picking up shifts after school and on weekends and Paula takes credit for teaching Meghan to be "personable."

"We trained her to be personable and have great eye contact and be very genuine – skills she’s going to need traveling the world with Harry," she said back in 2017, when Meghan (opens in new tab) was just beginning her royal journey. "She had to prove she had an outgoing personality and would work well with staff."

Froyo Paula revealed that everyone from Meghan's former yogurt-selling life was very excited to learn that she got engaged to Prince Harry and explained why she thinks Meghan loved her time at Humphrey Yogart, too.

"She comes from humble beginnings like most of us. I’m now wondering if all my team want to be princesses," Paula said. "I’m sure she remembers it fondly. Her dog is named Bogart – maybe there’s a link?"

Maybe, Paula. Maybe. 

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