EMOTIONALLY YOURS

The star of Netflix's etiquette show Mind Your Manners tells Tatler that what she teaches is about far more than being polite or using the correct cutlery

- Amrita Katara

As etiquette expert Sara Jane Ho discusses her journey to the TV screen, there is a quiet resolve that emerges—her wish is to help people elevate their lifestyle and be the best version of themselves.

“It all began ten years ago when I moved to Beijing to found a finishing school [Institute Sarita],” says Sara Jane Ho, who is often mistakenly believed to be late casino magnate Stanley Ho’s daughter. But the host of Netflix’s Mind Your Manners, a show in which she helps clients create positive change in their lives, is a self-made woman who found fame by acting on her instincts and filling a gap in the market.

“The reason why I did this [opened a finishing school] was really because I was inspired by my mother. She was just such an amazing hostess. Unfortunately, I lost her to cancer when I was 21. So in some ways, I wanted to continue her legacy.” She adds that local friends were keen to learn how to navigate professional scenarios with people from different cultures. “After I completed my MBA at Harvard, I remember my friends in Beijing were asking me for tips on like, how to have a breakfast meeting. And just a lot of these little questions, so I thought, maybe it’s a good way for me to combine what I love with my mother’s legacy, and with what I think is a market need in China’s elite who are curious about western etiquette.”