Mind Your Manners, and Your Wellness Too w/ Sara Jane Ho
From Netflix Stardom to Startup Success
November 26th, 2024 • 6 min read
Sara Jane Ho is a woman of many talents. From Netflix screens to the boardroom, she’s built a career on reimagining how we move through the world. Known for hosting the Emmy-nominated Mind Your Manners and founding Beijing’s premier finishing school, Sara has now ventured into the world of feminine care with Antevorta - a brand that’s as innovative as it is rooted in tradition.
From Finishing School to Feminine Care
For over a decade, Sara Jane Ho was synonymous with etiquette. After graduating from Harvard Business School, she founded Institute Sarita, a finishing school in Beijing that helped Chinese professionals navigate the global stage. Her Netflix series Mind Your Manners brought her expertise to an even wider audience, earning her global recognition.
But Sara’s entrepreneurial instincts soon drew her toward a new mission: redefining feminine care through traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Antevorta is built on the principles Sara grew up with in Hong Kong, where herbal remedies were a way of life. Seeing a rise in wellness trends like acupuncture and holistic medicine during the pandemic, she realized the time was right to introduce TCM-based feminine care to a global audience.
A Bold Move Across Borders
Early on, Sara and her co-founder faced a pivotal decision: despite selling 1,000 units in just one month using no paid ads, they chose to exit the Chinese market and focus on building Antevorta in the U.S.
“We actually did a test sale, and in one month we sold 1,000 units using no paid ads - it was entirely my social media in China,” Sara recalls. “But then me and my co-founder, we made the very clear decision to exit China and relaunch in the States because part of our mission was building the first global Chinese beauty brand and bringing traditional Chinese medicine out to the rest of the world.”
She adds, "Once we get that done in five, six, seven years in the U.S., then we can come back into Asia and even have that halo effect of being a U.S. brand in China."
Navigating the Startup World
As an entrepreneur, Sara brings the same discipline to Antevorta that she did to teaching etiquette. She credits her success to constantly challenging the status quo within her business.
“I like to hope for the best, but plan for the worst, and one thing that I do that drives my co-founder crazy is that every month or two I’ll question everything," she says. "This freelancer we’re using - they’re costing this much, do we still need them? Or can that agency that we just hired also do this? It drives her nuts, but in some ways we’ve made a lot of very good decisions off of thinking critically every month because when you’re a startup things change so quickly, right? What may have made sense a month ago may not make sense today.”
Sara’s relentless focus on efficiency and adaptability offers a masterclass in how to stay nimble in a fast-moving industry
The Future of Chinese Beauty
Antevorta seamlessly blends traditional Chinese practices with modern wellness trends, placing prevention at the heart of its mission. “Western medicine is about fixing symptoms, or covering symptoms, and Eastern medication, Chinese medicine, is about prevention,” Sara explains. “Covid helped a lot of Americans realize that prevention is important. I saw a rise in the use of acupuncture, herbal soups, all this holistic sort of stuff, and a mistrust of big pharma.”
But for Sara, Antevorta represents more than feminine care, it’s about leading the next wave of global beauty.
“K-Beauty has made the American customer receptive to Asian beauty,” she says. “I believe we’re seeing the start of a wave for C-Beauty, and it’s exciting to be at the forefront. It’s still very emerging, it’s still very fragmented, but I believe Korea has done a lot for Asia, and we’ll see a wave coming off of that.”
It’s clear that Sara Jane Ho isn’t just building a brand; she’s sparking a movement that bridges tradition and innovation, East and West, beauty and wellness.
Explore Antevorta’s groundbreaking products and see how they’re redefining feminine care here.
If you’ve enjoyed reading these insights, make sure you're subscribed to Weekly Insights mailer for fresh Founder Stories delivered straight to your inbox every week! Dive deeper into more success strategies by reading more exclusive snippets from our show’s, or join us in person to experience it firsthand!