Female entrepreneur teaches noble etiquette to wealthy Chinese

Updated: 2016-08-25 06:31

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Female entrepreneur Sara Jane Ho poses for a photo on a sofa. [Photo/qq.com]

What wealthy woman wouldn't want to be as elegant as Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey, with impeccable manners and perfect etiquette?

Sara Jane Ho, a 31-year-old Hong Kong native is making this possible for wealthy clients at her finishing school Institute Sarita, which is becoming increasingly popular among the new rich.

She started the business in Beijing in 2013 after graduating from Harvard Business School and Institut Villa Pierrefeu, a finishing school in Switzerland. Her new business attracted instant attention as she was included by Forbes magazine on its Women To Watch In Asia list in the same year.

The training costs tens of thousands of dollars, ranging from a two-day experience to special courses targeting both married and unmarried women.

Courses include Western table manners, floral arrangement, table conversation, dress codes, among others.

The high tuition is part of her business strategy. "In fact, a good many women can afford it and are willing to learn. More and more young women of an age ranging from 20 to 40 have become more and more enthusiastic about etiquette courses," said Ho.

Her students mostly come from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, and a small number from Northeast China, including both full-time housewives and professional women in significant positions at enterprises and colleges.

Now she plans to expand her business to the internet by making online videos about etiquette, food, cosmetics and fitness to woo more modern Chinese women to her business.