Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Ginsberg.
Hi Kate, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I launched Queen of To Do in January 2011 after moving to Austin with my first husband and our newborn son Tiago in November 2010. Originally, I planned on it being a simple errand service that would allow me to keep our baby with me while also providing income for our family. Over time, I wasn’t getting traction as quickly as I’d hoped and decided to begin giving household help, too. I accepted client requests within my skill set and built a loyal group of customers who would delegate anything they didn’t want to do or didn’t have time for.
For the first 9 years, I continued to provide in-home support to my clients, keeping their laundry, errands, chores, and other tasks handled and was consistently booking out roughly two weeks. In 2020, when COVID hit, I pivoted to virtual work and vacation home management, which allowed me to keep the business going without risking my family’s health.
In May 2021, a dear friend, Heather, asked what was holding me back from expanding since I was booking new clients out 3-4 weeks due to increased demand as we all strive for a return to “normal.” I explained that I couldn’t do it all: Work with clients, support my family, find and train employees, and handle all the behind-the-scenes duties that would come with expansion. Heather agreed to help me with all the processes and hiring, and together, we brought on our first employee. By the end of 2021, we had 8 full-time employees. Because Heather joined me and stepped in as operations manager (now COO), she gave me the support and flexibility that I needed to grow into a CEO, regain work-life alignment, and have the flexibility and freedom to be able to step away from my business for periods to be a caregiver for my current husband.
Business-wise, I’m primarily focused on the big ideas and dreams for the future of Queen of To Do, with expansion into San Antonio and Houston coming later this year and a corporate wellness program in the pre-launch phase. Heather keeps me grounded, helps me see what’s possible with what currently exists, and empowers me to stay true to our values of work-life balance, community building, and support for our team, families, and clients.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
There have been so many challenges! Some I’ve come to expect, like the annual summer slow-down when we have clients away at second homes in cooler climates, kids away at camps, and just generally different needs, or the bonkers stretch from October through January. Others are new and catch us by surprise, like realizing we are overpaying for services we can handle or timing a rate adjustment poorly. After the initial shock passes, Heather and I can look at the challenges as opportunities to explore new pathways or find new options that better fit our long-term goals.
We are also learning to be good leaders, offering our team transparency into why we are making adjustments or grace when they need to step back to address family or personal issues. There are choices I’ve made as a business owner that aren’t the usual way of doing business or the most profitable, but they are the decisions that feel most aligned with me. Even when decisions have been made, I don’t regret them. They provide an opportunity to learn lessons, adjust, and be resilient.
My husband’s medical journey has been the single most significant challenge. Since we met in early 2014, he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma several times, had a stem cell transplant multiple surgeries, and had to relocate to Houston twice for clinical trials. There have been many insurance fights to get him the medical care he needs, phone calls to administrators, more emergency room trips than I can remember, and pleas to our online community to connect us with decision-makers who can say yes to helping us. Even through all this, our friends and community, including my clients, have permitted us to keep our family (and my business) running. Now Mike is my house spouse who gets up with the kids, plays video games, and goes on walks with them; and is a fantastic stay-at-home dad and my biggest supporter.
I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Queen of To Do?
Queen of To Do is a personal assistant and home management company. So many people think we are housekeepers or a cleaning company–That’s one of the three categories of work we won’t do. As long as a request is legal and ethical, we are happy to help, but we don’t do housekeeping or heavy cleaning, lawn care or landscaping, and work that requires licensure, like plumbing or electrical. Beyond that, our team can handle the vast majority of issues that arise, whether it’s ongoing weekly support for keeping systems running smoothly and the magical fairy godmother vibe in place or for one-off holiday decor install and removal, packing up for a move, or cleaning out a storage unit or garage.
Every person on our staff enjoys having a variety of tasks in their days. The work is rewarding in that we are clearing mental space and freeing up evenings and weekends simply by handling things like laundry, dishes, tidying (so the cleaning crew can clean!), waiting to meet an installer or repairperson, preparing snacks, running the car to the shop, finally taking those donations to Goodwill, getting the dog to the vet, and anything else that’s on a client’s To Do list! The options for how to utilize our services are endless and completely customized to each client’s needs. There are many options locally for household help, including gig-based services. We are deeply committed to providing a higher level of service, with background-checked and insured employees and consistent, reliable service you can count on. We extensively train our employees and offer premium onboarding that brings our team up to speed quickly and provides a resource for them to check before asking dozens of questions in the first several shifts. We ask for clarification as needed, but it’s our goal to keep that to a minimum and make minor adjustments as needed in the first four to six weeks to ensure our clients are satisfied and their spaces are functional.
We pair each client with a primary assistant who will provide the majority of the services each shift and a backup assistant in case the primary is ever away from work for any reason. This allows the primary assistant to dig into the household systems, identify problem areas, and develop collaborative plans or schedules to ensure the household operates smoothly. The backup assistant is in place to provide the most important tasks get done even if the primary assistant is out sick, has a family emergency, or is away on vacation. We hire resourceful, excellent problem solvers, then really lean into our employees’ knowledge, talents, and skill sets. We’re better together and are proud of the degree to which our employees freely share knowledge, help each other grow and gain new skills, and tap each other in to be sure our clients get the best possible outcomes. You don’t want me taking care of your houseplants, but several of our employees have green thumbs!
Other companies offer only virtual assistant services, and that’s an excellent fit for some people. However, when it comes right down to it, they aren’t able to be in your home:
- Feeding your pets
- Folding and putting away your clothes
- Picking up the passport you left on your kitchen counter and overnighting it to you in time for an international leg of a family trip.
A virtual assistant can help you plan a party. Still, the Queen of To Do can plan, prepare goodie bags, wrap the gifts, set up, keep food and drinks filled, and clean up after the bash so you can enjoy the entire event and not have to deal with the mess when you’re exhausted, and the kids are overstimulated. One of the best parts of having a local, in-person company for household assistance and support is that you benefit from having our entire team. We have the flexibility and staffing to accommodate larger projects and faster timelines than many individual personal assistants.
I’m proud that we have grown and scaled quickly since the pandemic. Seeing the positive changes in clients’ lives is thrilling when they can delegate their entire To Do list and reclaim their evenings and weekends for relaxation and time with loved ones. They become less stressed, better able to focus on building their careers, and thrive! I’m also incredibly proud of my team. They all do amazing work for my company and clients, give generously their time and talents, and are instrumental to my vision for the next several years.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
The most important lesson was a deeper appreciation for my support system. Not being able to see them in person, we adjusted to staying in touch through a running group chat. That thread kept us connected and allowed us to conspire about being stuck in the house trying to help our kids figure out virtual classes, plan our next cheese party when we could finally get together again, and coordinate doorstep exchanges of puzzles, books, and little surprises for each other. My husband and I found that we love spending time together and doing our own activities next to each other. I also learned that people were beginning to see and understand the value of our services. After a few years of handling everything independently and the line between work and home becoming so messy, people have desperately tried to find balance and a new normal. People are still exhausted, and many are ready to give themselves some self-care through personal or household assistance.
Pricing:
- A la carte hours are currently $80/hr.
- Monthly subscriptions begin at 10 hours/month. Larger subscription packages are the best value!
- All services are billed straight hourly.
- Premium hours (outside normal business hours and on holidays) incur an additional charge.
- Corporate wellness packages are customized upon request.
Contact Info:
- Website: queenoftodo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenoftodo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/queenoftodo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/queen-of-to-do/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/queen-of-to-do-austin-2
Image Credits
Mary Arcuni
