This is an interview with Sarah Connolly, who is the Founder of LANE, an exclusive personal private PA consultancy offering a multitasking, perfectionist assistant on demand to the high and ultra-high net worth.
Your career has taken you from five-star hotels to working with some of the world’s most discerning clients. How did you first find yourself in the world of private PAs and luxury service?
My entry into the private PA world was entirely unplanned. While working in the reservations team at The Savoy, a new Managing Director joined the hotel and I was unexpectedly invited to become his PA. I initially declined – it wasn’t a path I had ever envisioned for myself – but after several conversations I finally accepted, and from the very first day it felt like stepping into exactly where I was meant to be.
What type of PA work do you do?
My work now is exclusively private, centring on clients’ personal and home lives rather than corporate support. No diary minutes, no boardrooms – instead, my focus is on the seamless management of day-to-day living for individuals and families whose schedules and expectations operate at a premium level.
It’s bespoke, personal, and entirely shaped around the individual. No two days or requests are ever the same.
What’s a simple organisational hack you use every day that entrepreneurs could steal immediately?
Every Sunday, I dedicate ten minutes to mapping out the week ahead. I merge my work and personal diaries into one master schedule – meetings, calls, household errands, appointments – everything lives in a single place.
It acts as both a forward-looking diary and a tracked to-do list: when tasks are complete, they’re crossed off, and anything unfinished simply moves to the next day. It ensures nothing is missed, prevents digital-calendar overwhelm, and creates a calm, structured overview of what’s coming.
It’s simple, incredibly effective and keeps the entire week beautifully contained.
You work with people at the top of their game. What’s one behaviour or mindset they all seem to share?
Two qualities stand out consistently. First – they do not micromanage. They tell me what needs to be achieved and trust me to deliver it. Second – they deeply value their time. They delegate tasks that would drain their focus, whether organising travel, planning an event or finding the right service provider. They recognise that time is their most irreplaceable asset, and they protect it wisely.
You’re known for planning schedules. What’s the one time-management habit people get wrong time and time again?
Two common mistakes create unnecessary stress:
Over-scheduling. Packing too much into a single day means clients rush from one commitment to the next, leaving no room to be present or enjoy the moment.
No buffer time. Travel delays, traffic, queues – real life happens. Building generous transition windows keeps a schedule smooth rather than reactive, even for short journeys. A five-minute walk becomes effortless when you allow thirty, not frantic when you allow five.
You spotted a gap in the market before launching LANE. What made you realise people needed this kind of private PA service, and how did you decide to turn that insight into a thriving business?
I realised the need for private PA support when I was working for the Managing Director at The Savoy and found myself assisting with personal as well as professional matters. It became clear that even accomplished, high-performing individuals often require help managing the demands of everyday life – not just board meetings and business logistics.
Many people don’t initially realise this level of support exists, or that personal-life outsourcing is both possible and transformative. Once I recognised how much value personal management brought, it felt natural to build a service dedicated entirely to it.
And finally – what’s next for LANE? What direction or evolution are you most excited about for the year ahead?
The coming year is about expansion – thoughtfully and strategically. We’re growing the team with PAs who bring specialist backgrounds across different pillars of luxury: hospitality, fashion, wine, art, fine jewellery, watches and more. My expertise lies deeply in hotels and travel, and adding specialists with equal depth in other sectors will allow LANE to offer even broader excellence to our clients.