Extracurricular activities, leadership positions, sports teams, community service – being a good student is no longer just about making the grade. Colleges today are looking for well-rounded students with a host of skills and qualifications. The burden for today’s teens can seem backbreaking as their precariously-balanced schedules wobble between academics and extracurriculars. Now business wunderkind Mia Kim says this recipe for success is missing an essential ingredient. As she explains, etiquette lessons can make today’s youth into the total package.

When Kim answers questions about why she believes incorporating etiquette into a child’s education is important, she cites a Harvard study that showed 85 per cent of a person’s success is based on their social savvy (technical and knowledge skills accounted for the remaining 15 per cent). “Savoir-faire” success stories are near and dear to Kim’s heart. At just 23, Kim went from an undergraduate majoring in humanities to a sales executive who helped a company grow from a USD 30 million enterprise to USD 150 million in just a year’s time – all before she had graduated from university.

Kim credits the company’s astronomical success on the executive team’s ability to present a polished and professional image, despite their combined youth and inexperience – a fact backed up by feedback from their partners and clients. These “soft” skills had been Kim’s hobby since she picked up her first Emily Post book as a young girl and discovered her self-proclaimed “passion for manners.”

Kim, who was born in Korea and moved to America at age 6, also acknowledges that her Asian background shaped her into the successful businesswomen she has become. “I had an affinity from early childhood for learning cultural things that were traditional. I learned tea ceremonies, Asian etiquette and gu zhen as a child,” Kim says. “As an Asian American, I felt displaced, like I had lost my cultural identity. These rituals were my way of developing an awareness of who I was.”

After retiring from the corporate world five years ago, Kim started answering pleas from her friends for advice on how to master the social skills necessary to succeed in today’s international business world. What began as advice evolved naturally into her latest business venture: Mia K. Inc. The self-titled company fuses two of Kim’s passions: etiquette and education. Now, she has opened the Shanghai branch of Mia K. and is reaching out to the city’s population to offer her own brand of lifestyle training.

Kim holds classes designed to sculpt and refine adults, but believes the most success can be found among younger students. “Old habits are hard to break, from being able to maintain eye contact to making open gestures,” she says. “It’s better to start training as a youngster.” She currently offers two sets of classes to help mold future generations: 'Children’s Etiquette' and 'Youth Etiquette'. The former is designed to train and educate children between the ages of 7 to 12, the latter, 13 to 18.

The fundamental goal of Kim’s training is to show the leaders of tomorrow how to promote honesty, respect and consideration for themselves and others in their life. MIA K. Inc. accomplishes this task by offering a series of basic lifestyle lessons, such as table etiquette, mobile and text skills, self-introduction, posture and grooming, which are articulated through role play activities, retreats, body memory exercises and field trips.

These lessons are constructed to inspire children to become comfortable not only with themselves, but also with social settings – a soft skill that is often neglected in a world where interpersonal communication skills are underestimated. “Social skills and manners were traditionally taught in the home, but in today’s world where both spouses work, it’s increasingly difficult for parents to connect to their children and instill in them essential values,” explains Kim. “But character can be these children’s edge, and that’s where lifestyle training comes in.”

To study under Kim’s polite tutelage, students can opt for a three-month program that meets on Saturdays. Families are also invited to join in on the etiquette education with a two-day retreat where parents and children learn different skill sets to create an environment for success. University prep courses are also available for students preparing for the gruelling college interview process.

Adding one more thing to the already overloaded schedules of busy students might seem like the last thing they need, but etiquette classes could be the edge that leads to success. And Kim likes to think she’s making the world a better place by teaching young people about manners. “Nothing has ever evolved out of rudeness,” she says. “At Mia K., we’re trying to make it a happier world in our small, little way.”

Web: www.miakinc.com