Sage Haus got featured in The Wall Street Journal. Here's what they got right, and the one thing I'd add.
HOLY guacamole. Sage Haus got featured in The Wall Street Journal.
I'm so proud of this team. I can't believe it, honestly.
WSJ. Magazine wrote about house managers, the families hiring them and why. Sage Haus is in it, alongside one of the families we work with. Here are my unfiltered reactions.
They got the role right
Sometimes, when we're redefining this role in household support, people get it wrong. A house manager becomes a cleaner, or a nanny with extra errands, or an organizer who leaves you a label maker.
The WSJ didn't.
House managers aren't cleaners, planners or organizers but a hybrid of all three with an executive mindset.
YES. That's the sentence we've been saying for three years. A house manager is executive function for the home: one person who holds all of it and keeps it moving, whatever support your family specifically needs.
They keep the house functioning like a business all while sweeping away evidence of life's messiness.
I'm going to be quoting that one for a while.
The title is a little weird
"These People Can Make Your House Look Like No One Lives There." I think it's there to get your attention (it worked), because the piece underneath is bigger than a spotless counter.
This is no longer only for the ultra-wealthy
The job has seen rising demand from middle- and upper-middle-class homes, at a time when most families in the U.S. have two working parents.
For a long time, household staff meant a mansion and a team of twelve. That's not who we work with. We work with two parents with real jobs, a school calendar that changes weekly, a dog, a dishwasher that needs emptying twice a day, and nobody left over to own any of it.
And the Sage Haus family they interviewed? Their house manager helps with meal prep, organizing, laundry and childcare, at $35 an hour. We see a range of about $30 to $50 depending on the area and experience.
Accessible, affordable, approachable. That's the whole mission.
The one thing I'd add: the story leans full-time
Most families we work with start part-time. Eight hours a week, or 12, or 15. A few mornings. Someone who owns the reset after the weekend, the restock, the returns, the appointment that keeps slipping, and builds the systems so the next week runs a little smoother than the last.
That's what makes this possible for a two-income family, and that is what I want more people to know exists.
The role is the reset
Two of the house managers in the piece said it perfectly.
One calls her work "the daily reset."
Another: "They need systems in place."
That's the job. Not perfection. A reset, and a system, so the people in the house get their evenings back.
Thank you
To the families and the house managers who gave a reporter their time and let them into their homes.
Every time someone talks about getting support out loud, it feels a little less out of reach for the next family.
If you've been wondering what this could look like in your own home, come to a free info call. We'll walk through what a house manager can own, how part-time usually works, and answer your questions in real time.