001 | Introduction: Why Dear Billionaire Podcast?
Whether you’re a millionaire or a billionaire, new money or old money, If you have a household staff and are considering hiring your first house manager, Here are some tips and feedback on finding and retaining Trusted and world-class staff so you can enjoy the life you've earned. This is our first-ever Dear billionaire podcast! I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time. I have been in a unique position in my career where I spent 25 years in landscape design and construction work for some very high net worth families in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rancho, Santa Fe, California, and recently in Los Angeles. Through those experiences, I transitioned into an estate manager fairly late in my career. My first role was for a global high-tech giant. That experience was surreal and an introduction to an industry I had never fully understood. And when that ended, I went to work for another global retail heiress to manage multiple properties internationally. Through those experiences, I noticed a need for essential business tools and systems to run these large properties, crazy lifestyles, and numerous staff and contractors. This was compounded by a need for better communication, clear directives, and an understood chain of command to which I had become accustomed in the high-end construction world. When I left private service, I created Estate Management Systems to share the tools I had developed as an estate manager with others. In those system training sessions with my clients, it became obvious that the focus often turned to solving problems related to the personal side of private service (communication, unspoken expectations...) and many other challenges that no system could solve. Then, realizing that more focus was needed to support household staff to succeed, Private Service Support Team (www.PSST.club) was launched for that reason. But there was a missing piece. All of the coaching programs were supporting private service professionals. As lovely as that was, addressing the other part of this equation to create real change in this industry was needed – the homeowners who employ these people. When I mention the Dear Billionaire podcast to my industry and personal friends, they laugh out loud or look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. The ones who will share their thoughts say, "Billionaires aren’t going to listen to suggestions about attracting and retaining world-class service staff.” OK. Maybe not. But I’m moving forward with the notion that it’s better to say it then to sit silently and watch the same patterns repeat. So here we are. Thanks for being curious. Before starting our first episode, let’s clarify if you're in the right place. Your household staff hasn’t said “No” to you in a while. You employ full-time housekeepers, gardeners, and handypersons. You likely have more than two homes. You have hired or are interested in hiring someone to manage your household staff and residential real estate. You’re ready to turn over the reins of some aspects of your personal lives to someone else so that you can focus on enjoying the life you have earned. Further... Don’t think of this as HR training - It’s not. It’s not legal advice, either. These might not even be considered “best practices.” This podcast will address topics in the category of… “You’ve got to be kidding me!” We'll talk about the subtle, obscure, and ridiculously surreal experiences that so many household staff are having. Hopefully, we’ll laugh along the way, and I’ll explain why this should matter to you. Remember, these are people inside your home – the place you and your family go to feel safe, rejuvenate, reconnect, and entertain. If you have household staff who are not trusted, unhappy, mentally unstable, and not financially secure, this will impact the service they provide for you and your family. Don’t you think this erodes your family’s security and privacy? We’ll share important information about building more trusted, long-term, win-win relationships with the people who care for your family and home. That’s my hope, so thank you for listening. For more information, visit our Linktrees: https://linktr.ee/dearbillionairepodcast https://linktr.ee/estatemanagementsystems