The Easemakers Podcast

Do you know how to create a home inventory list? Why is inventory so important — to family members, to your insurance company and to your household staff? And, what exactly needs to be included on your home inventory checklist?Years ago, Carol Kaufman learned the hard way that failing to do inventory properly can be a huge mistake — so she launched her own company to help households and estates minimize the risk of ending up in her shoes. Today, she’s the Founder and CEO of Pinventory and the consulting firm Alternatives TLC, and she's sharing her tips in this episode of the Easemakers Podcast.Tune in to hear Carol's take on why inventory is so important, the 7 types of inventory every private service professional should know, and her tips for creating a quick but comprehensive inventory for any household or estate (good news: you don’t need to write detailed descriptions of every item of personal property in the home to have a solid inventory). Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

What are the opportunities for private service professionals who want to work from home? And, what are the challenges that come with a remote position? Tara Ulrich knows the answers to these questions firsthand. She’s spent her career as an administrative assistant, working first as a remote executive assistant for a nonprofit, then taking on a remote personal assistant job with a company that provided virtual assistant services.Now, she’s a full-time business owner. As the Founder of Timeless Virtual Assistance, she’s spent the past 8+ years handling a range of administrative tasks for clients across the country, and recently brought on her first team member. Her day can include booking travel arrangements, scheduling meetings, making phone calls to vendors, event planning, social media management, project management, calendar management and more. In a new episode of the Easemakers Podcast, Tara shares her insights on remote work, the pros and cons of working from home in private service, and her tips for building a virtual assistant business. Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

Your principals come to you and say they want to buy a ranch or some kind of agricultural property, and they’d like to set it up as a business to qualify for an agricultural property tax exemption. Now what? Colorado based Director of Properties and Agricultural Manager Stephanie Galetzki has helped several families and family offices navigate the process, and in this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, she shares everything you need to know.Tune in to hear reasons to set up land for agricultural purposes and reasons not to (and what each option means for the principal's lifestyle and their property tax bill), the conversations you need to have with your principal up front, and the differences between an estate and an agricultural property when it comes to staffing, operations, and accounting for expenditures. Plus, learn how to figure out your tax laws and eligibility requirements, who can help point you in the right direction, and why it’s important to network with other farmers and local government officials.For anyone curious about managing agricultural properties, this episode is a must-listen! Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

What are the trends in household staffing salaries and compensation? How much does compensation affect tenure and turnover? Which employees are you most at risk of losing?Botoff Consulting wanted to help answer these questions, and provide data to help families and family offices recruit top private service professionals and retain their best household staff members. In 2022, they surveyed 300 families and family offices in the first compensation study in the family office world solely focused on household staff. The Estate and Household Staff Compensation Report, published by Morgan Stanley and Botoff Consulting, covers 30 positions, including estate managers, housekeepers, private chefs and more. In this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, Botoff Consulting Managing Principal Trish Botoff and Senior Consultant Jennifer Adams share how to interpret the data to make smart decisions around compensation, and dig into key takeaways around overtime, turnover, long-term incentives and more. Tune in to hear why it's important to do regular check-ins with the market, what goes into creating a compensation strategy, where certifications affect compensation in private service, and tips for estate managers advocating for compensation increases for their household staff. Check out the complimentary report and the full report at botoffconsulting.com and follow along with Botoff to be a part of future surveys.Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

What do you need to know about today’s insurance market, and how do you decide when to submit a claim and when not to?In this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, we talk with Kate Norris, Managing Principal for the risk management firm, Atténuer Risk. Kate has spent her career in the family office world — first in wealth management, then at the Family Office Exchange.  During this conversation, she shares her tips for private service professionals, including what to consider when something goes wrong, the key factors in deciding whether you should submit a claim, common mistakes to avoid, and more. Tune in to get her tips for protecting your principals' insurability (and your own!).  Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

How do you manage an extensive wardrobe — especially when you’re working across multiple properties? In this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, personal stylist Natalie Decleve shares her tips for private service professionals tasked with managing their principals’ wardrobes.Natalie started her career in fashion, and in 2009, started helping CEOs, celebrities and more create the perfect wardrobe. She supports her clients with everything from image consulting to closet cleanses and shopping. And, she works closely with the private service professionals who support them to manage everyday personal styling, closet organizing and wardrobe management across multiple properties.In this conversation, Natalie shares what she’s learned about how personal style affects overall wellness, as well as her tips for managing an extensive wardrobe. Tune in to hear Natalie’s tips for managing wardrobes across multiple properties, inventories, closet editing and more. Follow along with Natalie @natty_style.Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

As the President of Luxury Estate Managers of Aspen, Sarah Korpela has had countless difficult conversations with her high net worth clients. In 15 years managing high end properties in Aspen, Colorado, and now in Scottsdale, Arizona, she's learned how to manage everyone's expectations, what to do when something goes wrong, and why brutal honesty is key. In this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, Sarah shares what she's learned about navigating uncomfortable conversations with high net worth clients and building strong relationships from the beginning.  Tune in to hear the questions she asks when she starts working with a new family, the most common frustrations that principals have, and her tips for setting up strong systems of communication between private service professionals and the families they support.  Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

As a Director of Properties in the Bay Area, Jeffrey Konen has helped a number of families navigate the challenges of scaling their household operations after a wealth event.In this episode of the Easemakers Podcast, Jeffrey shares what it's like to work with a high-growth family office, covering everything from questions to ask in an interview to how to keep morale up on your team. Tune in to hear Jeffrey's tips for private service professionals in a rapidly changing and growing environment, the questions he always asks principals, and his advice for setting up systems that set everyone in the household up for success.Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

Today, Phoebe Maddrell is a freelance lifestyle manager and estate consultant based in the UK, but she's worked in just about every kind of environment you can imagine — from guest homes to superyachts and estates.Over the years, she's honed her ability to create effective systems for communication, helping households operate seamlessly and create a historical record that keeps things running smoothly for years to come.Tune in to hear Phoebe's tips for communicating with your team, meeting people where they are, and taking the time to document everything you're doing to save your team (and your future self) time in the long run.Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.

This month marks the beginning of hurricane season. How do you make sure a property — and all of the fine art, antiques, and other valuable assets within it — are safe from risk?In this conversation, we talk with Tom Burns, Chief Operating Officer at Fortress — the Boston and Miami-based storage and preservation company that specializes in fine art, antiques, and more. Tom shares best practices for preparing for hurricane season, tips for unexpected worst-case scenarios, and advice for any estate manager responsible for preserving a private collection.Subscribe to the Easemakers Podcast to hear from more experts in the private service industry, and join the Easemakers community to talk to other estate managers and PSPs on a regular basis.  Enjoying the Easemakers Podcast? Leave us a rating and a review telling us about your favorite episodes and what you want to learn next!The Easemakers Podcast is presented by Nines, modern household management software and services built for private service professionals and the households the support.