Practice Makes Etiquette

Author, entrepreneur and host of Daytime Emmy-nominated Netflix show, Mind Your Manners, Sara Jane Ho, on why confidence is a bigger superpower than we realise

- Tania Jayatilaka

Would you like to move my things to the floor so you can sit more comfortably?” Sara Jane Ho says with an easygoing charm, referring to her bag on the chair nearest to her during our chat at her photo shoot. Her tone, somewhere between casual and courteous, gives you the sense that she would go out of her way to find you a seat in a crowded room or make you feel right at home five minutes after meeting you. Spend a bit of time with her, and you’ll realise why she is so great at what she does. For starters, spending one’s childhood and teen years across Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, the UK and the US teaches a girl a thing or two about breaking the ice with people and forming meaningful connections despite cultural differences and communication barriers.

Graduating from Harvard with an MBA, she saw an unmet need for etiquette coaching in China and spent the first 10 years of her career running Institute Sarita, a finishing school she founded in Beijing. In 2022, Ho rose to fame as the host of her own Netflix series Mind Your Manners. Her trademark “wicked” humour, down-to-earth manner and pragmatic advice to clients made the show—and Ho—a hit with viewers who may have previously been put off by the exclusivity and superficiality associated with etiquette training. While the traditional principles of etiquette go against modern-day mantras to be yourself and prioritise authenticity, Ho counters with a more realistic, tried-and-tested view of the matter.