Today we head out to the UAE to chat with Hannah, a House Manager who has been in the industry for the last 10 years. I love talking to candidates who have made the decision to relocate and work somewhere which has such a different culture and temperature (!) to see why they decided to move and what the benefits of taking such a big step have been. We discuss the highs of working in the private sector and why she has stayed in the industry for so long. We also chat through the challenges she faces in her role, especially in a UAE household which brings numerous challenges of its own. 

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE25 for any of her products or services on her website.

Our fabulous sponsor, Kelly Dixon from Estate Management Systems joins us today to discuss different areas of estate management. Having been a guest on the podcast before where we delved deep into her career history, today we focused more on some of the issues estate managers face on a day-to-day basis offering advice along the way.

Since leaving the world of estate management, Kelly has spent 3 years obsessing about supporting other estate managers through her company Estate Management Systems. Starting with her bespoke house management tool to her bite-sized training modules to her new podcast, Dear Billionaire, she is constantly trying to support and improve the industry. We tackle some common issues experienced when managing a large private home from overworked staff and how you can ensure your team doesn’t burnout, to discussing training and the importance of cross-training and even why estate managers should be paid more money!

Lots of really valuable advice today which we hope you enjoy.

We invite our very first gardener to the show today! Being an area that I know very little about, I was excited to learn more about the life of a private gardener and how you get into managing the large amounts of land and gardens for UHNW individuals. We discuss the importance of experience over qualifications and that exaggerating your skill set at an interview is not advisable! 

Jonathan has always had live-in positions for his entire career within the private sector which causes huge problems when you are in between jobs or unemployed for a period of time. He has some fantastic advice for others who also have a live-in position in how to help protect themselves should the worst happen, and you find yourself out of work – which also means out of accommodation! Unemployment is stressful enough but when you have nowhere to live at the same time, it’s essential you do all you can to help yourself in that situation. 

Hopefully, you find some of these tips useful.

We have recently partnered with 2 highly experienced trainers of private household and yacht staff and today we are talking with our US based trainer Dwight. As a member of our Florida community, he has been part of the Silver Swan family for a while but with his extensive training experience gained from 5* world renowned hotels and more recently within the private sector we felt he was the perfect person to provide Silver Swan training services across the US.

Today we delve into Dwight’s career to date to find out how he has got to where he has and what some of his obstacles on the way were. We then chat all things training – why it is important, why so many people fail when training is lacking, and we discuss his particular approach to his training programs. 

If you are interested in talking further with Dwight regarding coming to your household to train you/your team then please get in touch. 

Today we bring the conversation back in-house by chatting all things Europe with Charlotte who has been managing our EU clients for the last year or so. The division was predominantly chalet and villa clients when she took over and it soon became a very busy private household desk with a large mummer of fantastic permanent positions on her books.

We discuss the huge changes that we have seen in the European market as a result of covid and since Brexit. The inability of British candidates being able to legally work in EU ski resorts has completely changed the landscape of ski seasons, which has been sad to see. However, it has created some fantastic opportunities for EU passport holders and has driven up salaries at the same time. We discuss how couples can secure work together, the challenges a lot of people face securing their first role plus how chefs transition from restaurants to private work.

Hopefully this is a useful episode to those working in Europe or hoping to secure work in the future

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE25 for any of her products or services on her website.

Today we invite Jim to the show to discuss his 20-year career working as an Estate Manager in the USA. His roles have spread across Dallas, New York and Florida which is where he now calls home. He has an interesting story as he made the choice to switch careers and move into the private industry later in life and has already had a successful career working in public relations. It’s interesting to hear about his challenges working with UHNW clients and also why he loves this industry so much.

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE 25 for any of her products or services on her website.

Today, we bring the conversation back in-house, this time discussing all things USA. Jessica is our USA specialist and is currently managing a large number of US based clients across LA, New York and Florida. There are aspects of the private industry which differ between the US and the UK and Europe and so it’s important that we delve into these different markets separately.

A number of dilemmas were sent in from some of our US listeners which we spend the episode discussing, ranging from information of our fabulous communities – of which we now have 3 and we’re looking to launch 3 more soon! We then discuss the dreaded term ‘hybrid roles’, where did the term come from, why it now seems to be a common thing and what we can do about it.

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE 25 for any of her products or services on her website.

Today, we invite a long-time friend of Silver Swans to the show. Phoebe has been involved with our UK House Manager community since the start and has attended almost all of our events. She is a seasoned House Manager having started are career working onboard superyachts. She was able to transition reasonably smoothly into a land-based PA and House Manager position in Australia and has been working back in the UK ever since. She shares her experiences and offers great tips to others looking to start their career in this industry.

Phoebe is about to embark on her own exciting venture, offering a consultancy service to UHNW families who may not need a full-time House Manager or maybe who have a full team but who are stretched and who need to outsource project work or tasks to support their House Manager. Having done it all before, with her creative flair, she is well-positioned to be that extra pair of hands.

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE 25 for any of her products or services on her website.

Silver Swan returns for our 4th season! This season we plan to invite a number of different guests to share their stories of working in the private sector and alongside these episodes we will be releasing Silver Swan episodes where I will be talking to different members of my team about the market in general and discussing different dilemmas which are sent in by our fabulous listeners. If you have an issue at work or a situation which you don’t know how best to handle, then email it in to us and I will discuss it with my team.

Today, I chat with our UK private household specialist Laura and we discuss how to get into the private sector, what the difference is here in the UK between a House Manager and an Estate Manager. We also discuss recruitment as a career and what her highs and lows are of recruiting for UHNW individuals.

Supported by our sponsor Kelly Dixon, Estate Management Systems and her fabulous new podcast called Dear Billionaire. Use discount code LIFE 25 for any of her products or services on her website.

As 2022 draws to an end we have taken the opportunity to pull out our personal highlights of Season 3. Over the last 22 episodes, we have had an array of guests from all over the globe, sharing their stories, their highs and lows and their most challenging client request. I don’t think our guests realise just how inspiring their stories are to others in the industry and especially to those listeners who are trying to get into the private sector. Learning how other people have carved their career really helps others plan their own route through the industry.

I personally have loved every minute of hosting this podcast. As the Founder & MD, I don’t often get the opportunity to talk to candidates on a day-to-day basis and it’s invaluable to me, as an agency owner, to have a true understanding of the current marketplace. As an agency, we are obsessed with adding value to the private sector and hearing from people within the industry first-hand enables us to ensure our service offering and various initiatives are what people actually need!

I would like to thank everyone who has listened to the podcast over the last 3 years along with everyone who has given me their time to come and be a guest and share their story. This podcast would be nothing without you!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from us all at Silver Swan xx