Navigating Trust, Delegation, and Support: Insights from Queen of To Do, Kate Ginsberg
Please enjoy this transcript of the Crown Yourself Podcast, with CEO and Founder of Queen of To Do, Kate Ginsberg [@queenoftodo], and your host, transformational story coach, Kimberly Spencer (@Kimberly.Spencer)
Kate Ginsberg started Queen of To Do shortly after moving to Austin, Texas in late 2010 with her first husband, newborn son, and their three dogs. Coming from Des Moines, IA, and the world of academia, it was a huge leap of faith into entrepreneurship and building a business on her terms.
Connect with Kate Ginsberg
WEBSITE: https://www.queenoftodo.com/
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/queenoftodo
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/queenoftodo
LINKED IN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/queen-of-to-do/
TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@queenoftodo
In this episode of the Crown Yourself Podcast, host Kimberly Spencer interviews Kate Ginsberg, founder of Queen of To Do, a company offering household support services. They discuss Kate's business model, her journey towards learning to delegate, and the importance of support systems. Kate shares her personal experiences, including her husband's health challenges, and how they've influenced her approach to her business and life. They delve into the significance of trust and communication in client relationships, the personalized approach to matching team members with clients, and the company's culture of feedback. The episode concludes with rapid-fire questions revealing more about Kate's personality and her business's values.
What you will learn in this episode:
- Discussion about Kate Ginsberg's business model and values
- Kate's journey of learning to delegate and receive help
- Unique services offered by Queen of To Do
- The importance of delegating and receiving support for radical self-care
- The value structure of Queen of To Do
- Navigating scaling the business while dealing with personal challenges
- Challenges in getting clients to delegate tasks and let go of control
- Strategies for building trust and effective communication with clients
- Creating a supportive and inclusive environment for clients and team members
- Fostering a culture of open communication and feedback within the company
*Transcripts may contain typos. We do our best to catch any human or robot errors prior to release. And we thank you in advance for your understanding. Enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or your favorite podcast platform. And, you can always watch the episode on YouTube here.
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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Kate Ginsberg (00:00:00) - We really are huge proponents of no delegate. The stuff that you don't need to do yourself like that is the greatest gift you can give yourself. And it's an act of radical self-care to say, I need help and I'm taking it. I'm asking for it, I am accepting it, and I am being clear in my communication around what my needs are. Because self-care isn't just bubble baths and massages, it's giving yourself the breathing room to know who you are and what you need and what you want out of life. So many people are stretched so thin right now that they they don't have the capacity in any way to even think about what life could look like if they were supported in the way that they deserve to be. Welcome to the Crown Yourself podcast, where together we build your empire and transform your subconscious stories about what's possible for your business, body, and life. I'm your host, Kimberly Spencer, founder of Crown Yourself. Com and I'm a master mindset coach, bestselling author, TEDx speaker known to my clients as a game changer.
Kate Ginsberg (00:01:12) - Each week you get the conscious leadership strategies you need to help you reign with courage, clarity, and confidence so that you too, can make the income and impact you deserve. Imagine this podcast as your royal invitation to step into your full potential and reign in your divine purpose. Your sovereignty starts here and your reign is now. Kate, Queen of To-Do. Welcome to the Crown Yourself podcast. Thank you. Thank you. So as to Queen's to, I must know what inspired you to bring royalty into your business. Oh my gosh. It actually was it was a Facebook naming post that I made. I was like, okay, which of these business names do you all like best? And queen of to do one by a landslide. And so I have been the queen of to do ever since. What does that mean? The queen of two. So I jokingly said, for like the first eight years of my business, I do all the things. so I am very much an eldest daughter, middle child, get shit done girl.
Kate Ginsberg (00:02:24) - And so I have always been the one that is making sure that all the details are right, making sure that everything is finished, and making sure that all the plans are in order and keeping track of everything. And honestly, when I first started my business, it really was just so I could have my my baby with me. I didn't need to make that much money. I just needed like to be able to support the household income in some way. And so I had planned for this to be an errand business. And when I didn't get enough traction from that before, my funding, which was my retirement account, ran out, I pivoted and started looking for people who needed help with things that were in my skill set. And as an eldest daughter and get shit done, girl, pretty much everything in my skill set, I can either I know how to do it from helping my mom with projects growing up, or I can learn how to do it. And so I channeled all of that get shit done goodness into a business, helping people with their day to day household tasks, chores, errands, you know, anything and everything to support the household and keep things running smoothly.
Kate Ginsberg (00:03:37) - I love that. And the fact that, you know, when we think of these because nowadays this is kind of especially post-Covid, like this is very oh, you know, you can hire someone to get your groceries and you can UberEats or you can DoorDash. What is the difference with your services and how you differentiated your your product to basically what you provide? So from the very beginning, I have been committed to providing ongoing service to my clients. And since we've started scaling, which has been May 2021 was when we started that adventure. So post Covid, everybody was super burnt out, like super burnt out from doing everything. And so we really started looking at hiring new people and decided that we didn't want to do gig economy stuff. We wanted to build something for our team that supported them and allowed them to thrive and not just continue to live paycheck to paycheck. So what really differentiates us is when we bring on new team members, they are fully background checked, their liability insured through our company, and they are W-2 employees.
Kate Ginsberg (00:04:55) - So, we are working on expanding benefits all the time. We offer some nice unique perks to our team, which encourages them to stay around and continue to support the vision that we're building. I, I don't have anything against gig economy models. It's not for me. It's not what feels good to me. I don't want people continuing to struggle to make ends meet and spend time with their families and have alignment in their own lives. I don't want to grow my dream at the expense of my team. And so by providing them a W-2 income with benefits that we're expanding all the time, that's what felt aligned to me. And so that's where we have kind of built our niche. Most of our clients have us in every single week, at least one day a week, most of the time, a couple of times a week, sometimes every day, whatever their needs are, is where we meet them. our team comes from a really diverse set of backgrounds. some of my favorite hires are former stay at home parents themselves.
Kate Ginsberg (00:06:05) - And let me tell you, there is nobody that knows how to get stuff done in a household like a Star Wars stay at home parent. you know, they know how much work it is to do everything around the house. They know what it means to have a home. And so they really, truly believe in what we're doing and know the magic that we're making in people's lives. And what a game changer that is for our clients. I one of the things I love. When I met you. And about your business model. Aside from the name. Because I was like, whoever names her business the Queen to do, I must be friends with this woman. Honestly. Obviously. beyond that, though, it's that you chose to do business in your way to pioneer your own path. The world is going in a very gig economy way that provides, you know, a benefit for a level of hustle. And yet at the same time that it loses that that thing that we all need, which is certainty.
Kate Ginsberg (00:07:08) - So it gives people that the value of variety, but that variety comes at the sake of their certainty of like, when's the next job coming? And like, right. It doesn't really allow you to have a full life. So I love the fact that you're hiring and just bringing on full time employees and doing business your way according to your values. What would you say is the value structure of what you created with the Queen of to do? So at the preface, this with at the very beginning of 2023. my business partner, I sat down and really built out like, what? What are the two most important things to us as we go into this new year? And again, we've only had employees since May of 2021. And so my background is in psychology and hers is in retail sales and management. Like we are not business women, but we have a strong sense of social justice, of equity, of everyone rising together. So we went into this year with a two theme words transparency.
Kate Ginsberg (00:08:14) - Our team can ask us at any time for transparency about why we're making the decisions that we're making. Where are the business finances like, do I need to worry about where things are going? And they will get honest answers, even if they're not the easy answers. the other was alignment, and that has been so important to me this year because work life balance is bullshit. Like, it's it's an unattainable goal. Like something is always going to fall by the wayside. However, what I have found is if I'm making choices in business and in my personal life that are all aligning with where I want to be in a year, in five years, in ten years, everything falls into place and sometimes I'm spending more time on business and sometimes I'm spending more time on my family. But I am able to allocate my my, my own personal resources and energy and bandwidth to what needs my attention in my time at any given moment. And so I can turn and say to my team, I'm going to have to step back for a week for the oh, my husband has had clinical trials for lymphoma.
Kate Ginsberg (00:09:29) - I'm moving to Houston for six weeks, and I'm not going to be here, so have fun. Good luck. And that's we you know. But that's where I needed to be. That was what was most important. The business will be fine. I have a wonderful team in place, but it would not have felt okay with me. Like I would have had to put my stomach the entire time had I not been focusing on my husband and his health at that moment. And so really leaning into I don't need balance, like I'm never going to, I'm never going to be balanced. I, however, can always be aligned. And then as long as I'm making choices that align with both my personal and professional goals, I'm going the right direction. I'm still going to make mistakes. You know? I'm still going to have missteps. But by making the choice that aligns best with where I want to go. I'm going to get there. And so that's that's been our primary value that we've really leaned into.
Kate Ginsberg (00:10:36) - And then really just the idea of. We're all in this together. If there's anything that I've learned from Covid, it's that we're all in this together. And so doing things that really support all stakeholders, not not just my clients, like, of course we want to support the clients, but also supporting my team and making sure they know I have their backs and I'm not going to throw them under the bus. And I'm not going to sacrifice their their happiness and their wellbeing for a client. It's it's never a doubt in any of their minds. So just continuing to be that like consistent. Never wavering support person. You know, they we have an open door policy. They can tell me anything. I'm really struggling. What can I do to help? Can I send you dinner? Can I, you know, do I need to come by and grab your kids? Like, what do I need to do to support you? Because that's how I want people showing up in my life is supportive and aligning and helping me on my path to my bigger goals.
Kate Ginsberg (00:11:42) - Not being roadblocks, being being rest stops, if you will. And so in awe of you navigating scaling your business while dealing with the challenges that are coming with your husband's health challenges that that he is overcoming. It's been a wild ride the last few years. We're thriving like we're we're doing so well and that has never wavered. But it is not because I'm personally amazing. It's because I have such an incredible support system in place, whether it's friends or family or even my clients, they come out in droves to make sure we are okay and supported and taken care of, which is why I've been able to continue to pour back into my company, my community, and my clients, and my team is because they pour into me and my family, without hesitation and without batting an eye. they they have our back, and so we have theirs. Like attracts like, it doesn't mean you are attracting that into your world. I'm not surprised. the thing that I love that I'm seeing so commonly with, with women owned businesses and specific is like choosing to just throw the myth of balance down the garbage disposal because it's it's complete bullshit.
Kate Ginsberg (00:13:11) - It's like, yeah, it's where it belongs. It's. Yeah, it's been this myth that we've been fed that we have to do have that have balance. And it's not the case. But sometimes I think harmony is a far better metaphor, at least to to allow her us to recognize that sometimes one part of the chorus is going to have to take over, or one's part of the instrument section, and then it's going to create the beautiful ebb and flow that is life, that is allowing for that. That symphony. That is the fullness of life, rather than one section blowing 24 over seven, which would be annoying anyways. Like it really would be. It's it's I look back to to my life at these pre kids and pre pre to businesses and I'm like what what was I doing with all my time. You know like I don't know but it was full on I remember being tired like what what was I doing that was so exhausting. I'm not exactly sure. Like I'm not sure. It's just it's it's amazing.
Kate Ginsberg (00:14:22) - And especially with as as we're growing and as we're growing businesses, the ability to receive support. And I think that that's something that I just love from your example is that you not only promote support, but you have an ability to receive support. And a lot of people who promote support, they kind of give from an empty cup where they give and they give them, they give them, they give them the give and there's nothing left for them. But because they're not allowing themselves to receive that. So how did you learn that? Was that practice? It was, oh girl, that was a rough one. Well, I had to get hit in the face by a metaphorical two by four to learn that lesson. so a little bit of background. my first husband and I divorced in 2013. I met my second husband in 2014, bought a house, decided we were not going to have any additional children, got a miracle baby. And when our baby was about nine months old, we found out that my husband, was having a recurrence of his lymphoma that he was diagnosed with first when he was 24.
Kate Ginsberg (00:15:29) - So it was nine years later, which ten years is basically when they say you're cured and clear, you know, clear health history. It's like you've never even had cancer. And then like a kick in the teeth right before our our son's first birthday, he was diagnosed again. And on our second date, he had told me if the cancer ever comes back. I'm not fighting it. And so I kind of made my peace with that, you know, like I'll take as many amazing days with this incredible human that I can. and then we had a baby, and. I went, well, what do you want to do? And he said, I gotta try. And he's like, amazing, I support that. We're big on body autonomy here. Had he said no, I'm done. It would have been devastating for me. But it is his existence and that is not my choice to make. So I he ended up going through chemo and having a stem cell transplant, which required him to be inpatient for three weeks in February of 2018.
Kate Ginsberg (00:16:35) - And during that time I was like, I was still trying to balance at that point, like desperately trying to still work because obviously we still had bills to pay. And I had a baby who I was still taking with me to work, and I had a seven year old, and I have a husband that's in the hospital 30 minutes away from our house, because that's where the transplant than it was. And so, I made the choice at that point that like, I had to work at least part time because we had paid bills and I need to be there for for Mike, for my husband. And so the one thing that I could kind of outsource and not fully, but to some extent was raising my kids who are incredible community of friends and family. And so during that time I was like, okay, I'm not going to worry about what the kids are eating. I'm not going to worry about who is with them beyond it being people that I trust, I'm not going to worry about how the laundry is getting done.
Kate Ginsberg (00:17:44) - I'm not going to worry about whether the dishes are done. The children are alive and know they are loved, and my husband knows I am there for him and the bills are paid. That's what I need to deal with. And so I ordered a keypad for our front door so I didn't have to worry about everybody having keys. I could unlock it remotely if I needed to, and whoever had time in their day to do a load of laundry, or spend some time with the kids, or drop off dinner in our fridge, they did. And that was where I went. Oh. If I'm not allowing people to help me, I am depriving them of the opportunity to show my family love. And so this is how I care for people is by helping them and providing support, and by not allowing people to do that for me was a brick wall of isolating myself. I would let people help me a little ways, but I was still trying to control how they were helping. And this really was something where I just had to let go of all of it at once, and I haven't looked back.
Kate Ginsberg (00:18:52) - It's just been I. Anytime somebody says, how can I help you? I'm like, this is what I need. This is what I need. I don't care how it gets done. This is what I need. And people are always happy to help. And that's been a huge game changer for me and something that I now preach. Like, don't deprive people of showing you how much they care for you, for your family, for your children, by not allowing them to help. that's so amazing and such a powerful lesson. And it sucks that it was like that way that, you know, that you had like, learned it. And but I was like, I was in other lives apparently. Yeah. It's like I used to say, like I used to compare myself to where other business owners were who started their business in 2016. And I was like, they didn't have a baby doing it. So I had a newborn baby, new mom, and postpartum anxiety. And I was, but I and I never would have been motivated had it not been for my son.
Kate Ginsberg (00:20:02) - So it wasn't so. And that's why we can't compare our realities and everybody's and just I, I so alter your just experience of how you chose to receive and how wildly brilliant that is to just put a keypad on your on your door. Oh my God. Best thing I've ever done. Best thing I've ever done. Like like I have done some significant upgrades to my house. That one I would do a million times over. It just made life so much easier. What are the other upgrades that you do for your house, or that you do for your clients? Houses that make everyone's life easier. So as as we all did during Covid, this was like my biggest DIY project I've ever done. I remodeled our master bath down to the studs. As one does. So I learned to do tile work. I learned to properly prep a floor for tile. I learned, oh, so many things how to install like a shower niche. I learned how to raise a ceiling. There were many life lessons.
Kate Ginsberg (00:21:13) - I would never, ever do them again, but I enjoyed it during the process. I so other things that I do, one of the best things I discovered is instead of doing bookcases, doing shelves like 14in down from the ceiling. You have all the perimeter of all your rooms that is unused. And so it's a beautiful way to display books without having to eat up a bunch of floor space. Also, your children can't reach them. I have ceiling height shelves of a collection of thrifted, rainbow glass, which I backlit with LED strip lights. Beautiful. Amazing. I want to know what my kids can't break. All of my beautiful glass. So, getting creative with where we're storing things in what we live in 1500 square feet. It is not a big house by any means, but being able to display the things that we love, like that, without having to worry about, like. Are they going to get damaged? Are they going to get spilled on? You know, it's just it's a non-issue.
Kate Ginsberg (00:22:21) - It's a wonderful thing. Yeah. Oh that's brilliant. And I know that I think when. When you and I talked and you told me that when you go into a client's home, you get all the serial numbers for all their appliances. Yes. Yes. So that was something we started doing over the summer. with our premium onboarding, we have 110 different points we collect on each new client's house, including the serial numbers, the model numbers of all their appliances. So all they have to do is call me, hey, it's 105 degrees outside and my my AC just stopped. And we can call our list of trusted vendors and say, here's the model and serial number. This is the brand. Do you have the parts to come fix this? And if they don't, we just moved down our list. So the other contractors that we like working with until we find somebody who does, but we don't have to be on site, the client doesn't have to try to find it. Go into a hot attic in the middle of a Texas summer.
Kate Ginsberg (00:23:19) - Are you kidding me? Absolutely not. so we get all of that information up front, which makes it very, very easy for us to like. It seems like we're reading mind reading, but really, we just gather a bunch of information on the the front end of things because we know stuff's going to go wrong in a house. It's just part of it. but we're prepared and not in a panic trying to problem solve and figure out how I'm going to get somebody on site. I pull up a Google doc and it's right. Amazing. That's brilliant. I was like, my my inner Virgo was just so gloriously happening. It's so good. Like you're saying that. Yes, like. But that's what we all need in our lives. As somebody that sees us and that knows. Because, like, there's no worse surprise. And realizing you have a giant blind spot in your your household maintenance repertoire. You know, like, nobody wants that kind of surprise. Nobody wants the. Oh, shit, my dishwasher's overflowing with bubbles.
Kate Ginsberg (00:24:20) - What have I done? Dish soap. Yeah. That's her. And it's not the same thing. Yeah, it is not the same thing. But, like, we don't have to learn that life lesson the hard way. If we have somebody who's like, okay, here's what you need to do. You know, we're big on the collective knowledge of things. And, with. So I've been in business almost 13 years now. I have learned a thing or two about what kinds of information I need about clients to, best support them without having to constantly ask questions. and that's where our premium onboarding, was developed is 13 years of working for busy people who don't have time to do all these things themselves, and occasionally having to be the one that goes into the hot attic in the middle of a Texas summer to get the, the model and serial number. Like, I will just cut to the chase and collect it at the beginning now. Brilliant, brilliant. Yeah. It's it's something we do for our, premium onboarding in our agency is with going on podcasts.
Kate Ginsberg (00:25:23) - A lot of times there's lots of forms and things. So we just collect as many questions. And I've been on over 200, maybe probably 250 podcasts now at this point. so we've collected enough questions that we're able to answer about 80% of those forms for our clients. So they don't have to do that time because I'm like, I would rather you answer them all once and then we're done. And then occasionally the podcast will have like that rare random like question that you're like, oh, like, if you were a candle with Kent, would you be I'm like, what's your favorite dinosaur? Like? Like, okay, we'll just figure that one. Let's see. Let's see about that one. But for the most part, we're able to do about 80 to 90% of the forms for our clients. And it saves it seriously is a game was a game where we brought that in for our clients. Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. And so for the business owners out there, like take this as a lesson for what are the repeated tasks that or maybe questions that you have that your clients regularly will come to you for, that you can solve before the problem even happens.
Kate Ginsberg (00:26:36) - So that way they feel even more supported and taken care of. Because when you add that into your process, they look at you like you're a genius. Like I looked at Kate, their godmother, like you are magic. When you like preemptively know these things. And it's it's a really great feeling. And especially because people when they think of household help, they think of, oh, I have a housekeeper, you know, someone that comes once a week or every couple of weeks to just clean the house. That's great. And there's so many other little things around the house that could be done. And it's like, I'm very blessed that I don't. I've never felt the, homemaker needs to make everything perfect. And like, I also don't do any of the cooking. So that's my husband's jam. Like for those women who or caretakers who are doing all the things, you know, that there is a laundry list literally of so much, so many other things to do. And so. How does that get structured? How do you.
Kate Ginsberg (00:27:49) - How did you choose to structure your business model to support for like a five minute like, oh, I gotta hang up this picture or change this light bulb or something like that, so I. First of all, we don't do any housekeeping for clients because I hate it. Like, I will sweep up the Cheerios that your kids dropped on the floor, like as they were running out the door and you didn't have time to deal with. I'm not going to let those get crushed under your carpet. but, like, I'm not doing your bathroom. I'm not doing your kitchen, and I. I'll wipe down counters. I'll do your dishes, like, totally fine. I don't want to clean. That is not my that's not my late. And I respectfully decline to enter that lane. So the way we've set up our business is very early on. I decided I did not want to deal with like tiers of tasks, like I don't have the mental bandwidth for that, and I don't want to quibble with clients over.
Kate Ginsberg (00:28:41) - Well, this was a tier one task, and this is a tier two task. Like what's the difference there? The same thing. They're not the same thing, but regardless. So I started charging just straight hourly. I figured the easy stuff outweighs the the big stuff, the hard stuff. It all comes out in the wash. So we just charge straight hourly. we do offer retainer packages. the the higher the monthly hours, the lower the hourly rate gets. So you do get a nice little discount if you're going through, say, 80 hours a month instead of ten. But that keeps it easy, makes it super easy for us to invoice. Makes it super easy for clients to understand. You know, a lot of them have doorbell cameras or, you know, their home. When we're there, they can see when we arrive, they can see when we leave. It's easy to check. They you know, there's just it simplifies so many things to just do straight hourly. And then any tasks that our clients ask for, they're fair game.
Kate Ginsberg (00:29:34) - So we've done party planning. We've oh party cleanup. Like that's the worst part of any party is having all the guests go home. And having just a disaster left, putting all the food into containers and, you know, getting the decorations down like nobody wants to do that after an amazing party at midnight. So we will be on site to help with that sort of thing. general household support, doing the maintenance stuff, you know, soaking all the showerheads in vinegar like nobody has time to deal with that level of detail. We do, because it's our whole job, is to notice and take care of all the little tiny details that are eating up mental bandwidth. Because even if our clients know they're not going to do it, that task still sits there in the back of their brain and just haunts them and eats up like little bits of of bandwidth and capacity that are better used elsewhere, whether it's at work or with their families or just in self-care. It doesn't need to be the task that just like, sits there and nibbles at the back of your brain.
Kate Ginsberg (00:30:44) - And by being able to outsource, I can afford five hours of help this week. Great. What's your highest priority stuff? we've got ten minutes left. Do you have any filler tasks, filler tasks or things that we also collect on the front end? Things like matching the basket of of socks that have just like, you know how this goes, like you're a mom, there's a million socks. All of them are slightly different, and half of them disappear in the wash each time. And they and they come back as Tupperware lids like, this is my this is my thing. They come back as lids and so, you know, matching up all the Tupperware lids and containers and getting rid of the shit that doesn't match anything. Like we're clearing space mentally. We're clearing space physically, and we are getting that stuff out immediately. You're not going to drive around with bags of donations in the back of your cars if you're dealing with us because we take them and then we come back with our little donation receipt and you get a nice little tax write off.
Kate Ginsberg (00:31:44) - You know, we really do strive to be a full service assistant. You need help planning a party. Great. I just need to pick up the cake on my way and drop it off. And then buy a few bags of ice. Amazing. You need somebody to, like, make sure that the kids aren't getting too rambunctious at this party. You got it. We're on board. You know, we really are in a position to say yes to the vast majority of things. And then with a team the size that we currently have, we've got ten employees currently. we do really lean into that collective knowledge. And so if you're like, I want to create a really luscious zoom background full of, you know, plants that look amazing. but I don't have great. Like, we've got somebody on our team that's amazing at that sort of thing. She comes in, she picks your plants, she gets them all potted, she sets up watering and lets you know, hey, this is how this all needs to be done.
Kate Ginsberg (00:32:38) - Or tells your primary assistant, this is how everything needs to be done and you get exactly what you want with. Minimal brain space used. So we really try to, meet whatever needs we can. And with a team of ten, like, ten brains. So much better than one. And even if I don't have the skill, somebody on my team probably does. so we're able to meet all of those needs in a way that, like a standalone personal assistant or a virtual assistant isn't going to be able to. Yeah, my virtual assistant isn't able to come in and, like, rearrange my backdrop. She can point out she's like this little thing over there, but that's it. That's all that's happening. And I think that, you know, especially entrepreneurs, we've gotten very comfortable with this idea of virtual assistant for the most part, like having someone to bring on, like, not always, but it was it is a learning curve. Takes some people longer than others. But it's a concept that's very that's more and more accepted in society.
Kate Ginsberg (00:33:48) - And there is what I have seen and you can let me know if I'm wrong. Is that the idea of having a personal assistant comes off as like, privileged or something like it's something that there's an ethos around it and I'm like, but why not receive the support, right? And it it does feel very luxurious for a lot of people. you know, having somebody who's at your beck and call, which it's, it's not our vibe. Like we're a fun bunch. We, we know how to get stuff done and get it done properly, but we have a lot of fun while we're doing it. We joke with our clients. We, you know, we spoil their pets. We're we're doing all of that, like additional fun stuff without losing sight of our primary purpose is to make life easier, to streamline your home, to make it feel luxurious and settled and and aligned for the life you want to lead without requiring intensive, input from the clients. so there is kind of that luxury vibe to it.
Kate Ginsberg (00:35:03) - We are working really hard to change that. We're we're like, no, everyone should have support. We're working on building out a, our services as a corporate wellness perk because a lot of companies are getting more comfortable with supplying virtual assistant services to their team. And we propose that taking that one step further and not just allowing them to delegate scheduling tasks, but to actually delegate the work that needs to be done at home, that's a game changer. Like if you aren't a you're a former stay at home parent, you know how much bandwidth that eats up. Like I a holy moly, I tried stay at home mom. It is not for me. It is not for me and I. I can't. I just can't because it has a different feel when you're doing it for yourself versus when you're doing it for someone else. And so we really are huge proponents of no delegate. The stuff that you don't need to do yourself like that is the greatest gift you can give yourself. And it's an act of radical self-care to say, I need help and I'm taking it.
Kate Ginsberg (00:36:16) - I'm asking for it, I am accepting it, and I am being clear in my communication around what my needs are. Because self-care isn't just bubble baths and massages, it's giving yourself the breathing room to know who you are and what you need and what you want out of life. And so many people are stretched so thin right now that they don't have. They don't have the capacity in any way to even think about what life could look like if they were supported in the way that they deserve to be. And when we are working really hard to change that narrative, to destigmatize and to remove that idea of privilege. we encourage people to gift our services to like new parents. Becoming parents is wild. Like it's it is a trip. Like they just send you home from the hospital with a whole person. Like they just let you take on and. Yeah, and then there's nothing like I had my babies that at home. But I was like, oh, oh great. You can cool. Like, I love the fact that at least in Australia, my mid, my midwife did, post care home visits.
Kate Ginsberg (00:37:41) - Oh, it was a lady changer, a game changer. And, you know, seeing these little things especially for as new parents like, oh my gosh, the amount of love and support that we at least had with our first, with our with our community showing up and giving meals and, and offering babysitting and my mom coming over for the first three days because I had a migraine that would not cease because I did 24 hours of labor. Like it was a game changer. Just being able to say, I know that my baby is still taking care of, and as a mother, you can recover and have the like. Your body needs a moment like the labor, then it needs a second. So, it's oh, my personal your first baby birth story, I, I ended up having an emergency C-section. Like, I was like, I'm going to have a natural and medicated birth. And I had an emergency C-section because his heart rate kept dropping. And that was how we needed to get him here safely.
Kate Ginsberg (00:38:36) - But like the griefs that I went through with I, I didn't get the birth that I want. And then like, my epidural didn't take right and I couldn't feel my arms for 12 hours after he was born. And so I couldn't even hold him. And then, comedy of errors, like I was trying to nurse him. And, you know, the stupid snaps on the hospital gown I pulled and, like, knocked my newborn six hour old baby in the head with this giant brain that I had. Like, it's everything about it was awful. And then three weeks later, I moved 1000 miles away from my entire family. Like what? Oh, sweet baby Kate, what were you thinking? But, like, just. Or I was 26 and I had no idea that this was such a terrible idea and like, survived it. But it made for a very challenging entrance to motherhood and having someone who could have unpacked for me when we got here to Austin would have been amazing. And instead, I'm recovering from a C-section with a baby who was very, very much struggling to nurse and.
Kate Ginsberg (00:39:44) - And being a stay at home mom for the first time ever, and not knowing anybody here like it was just it was so much. And then you pile on postpartum depression and not taking my meds because I had been pregnant, and it just was this heap of stuff on top of me when I was struggling to just tread water and keep my own head above the surface. And I was very, very lucky to find, community and a wonderful group of parents, through a baby wearing group. And they really supported me in a way that allowed me to come up to the surface and like any reasonable person as three or remove three weeks after my baby's born and eight weeks after that, I started my business, which it's a logical choice, you know, you know, hey, like, I yeah, we were we moved twice in one year, had a, had a baby, lost three family members and started another business. I think entrepreneurs are just like slightly crazy. I think all entrepreneurs are just a little just a little off.
Kate Ginsberg (00:40:54) - And you're right, we're just a little unhinged. But in the most delightful, biggest way. And the best way is, but we're the ones that like, move the world forward and like. And I don't want to say the people that aren't entrepreneurs don't, but they're they're the ones that allow us to, like, dream bigger and envision societal change and changing those narratives around what support looks like because, like, rugged individualism is not working for anybody. And, and honestly, I just read a fascinating article a few weeks ago about how the nuclear family has done people such a disservice because it drew us away from these large community family units, you know, multi-generational family units that provided that support. And now. Especially post-Covid. That community vibe was just lost. And so now we're all struggling to course correct that and come back together and build those villages that help us raise a child and raise a mother and a parent and an entrepreneur. And it's shifting. It's shifting where we want to see everybody rise together, where we want.
Kate Ginsberg (00:42:11) - Like me winning and having a thriving business doesn't take away anything from somebody who is doing a similar, a similar business, in a different way. You know, my vision isn't the same as somebody who has structured their their company on a contractor basis. We meet different needs. You know, I know we're at a higher price point. We are more of a luxury, privileged service level. But there are options for people who need help, who need support and can't swing our rates. You know, there there are companies providing that level of service and one offs where people can afford 200 bucks for a couple of weeks to help meet those needs, but they can't swing $1,500 a week for for my company, you know, and building relationships with those companies, with those business owners that are serving through the gig model or through the contractor model, you know it like we're serving people who need help. And that's such a wonderful thing, even if I'm not the person or my team. Aren't the people providing that, you know, we we know early and we welcome people to park their lane right next to ours and come on this journey with us.
Kate Ginsberg (00:43:36) - we we aren't the right fit for everybody, and that's okay. But we want to know who those people that are the right fit are so that we can continue to build these stronger, healthier communities that are really focused on how do we create this wave of. Everybody coming together and rising together and not just surviving, because so many people for the last few years, especially, have been trapped in survival mode. I don't want that. I don't want that for anybody. I want to see people who are thriving, who have the bandwidth to do creative pursuits, to pour into their communities, to pour into their children, to pour into their their elders and build those more tight knit communities again, that we've lost over the last generation or two, I love that. Yeah. And I've seen I mean, we have a multigenerational household, and being able to have the support of my mom, like with us, is just such a game changer than when it was my husband and I together in Australia, just kind of doing that, like alone in a country, which was great.
Kate Ginsberg (00:44:50) - Like we ended up building a community of amazing people around us who just supported us and loved us and friends that were family to us, with actually visit us more in Texas now than some of my friends in L.A., which is funny, you know, but the ability to just to to cultivate that and to have somebody that comes with you on your journey that that the building that support network is so essential to thriving and in everything because we are not meant to do this alone. And the more successful you become, and the bigger your dreams are, the more support you're going to need to have them come true, like the more support you're going to need around and you won't be able to like, have the bandwidth to change that light bulb like it's or to nail in that picture, because there's other things that are taking your valuable time, including taking your valuable time with the people that you love and having that that space. And I'm so curious with, because I know your, your business model really targets having working with successful leaders, entrepreneurs, corporate who are thriving.
Kate Ginsberg (00:46:01) - And typically I would assume that those people have had teams and so they're more skilled at delegating already. But when do you have clients or when you first started working with clients in any capacity? Did you see the struggle in managing and giving off tasks and like, what are those extra things that of the mindset of delegation versus doing it yourself? It is a challenge for some people, especially the ones who have also been get shit done people. They have a hard time letting go of that. we work really hard to build trust, so some of the easiest ways to do that are with tasks that don't really matter if they get done wrong, like the laundry is washed and it didn't get folded quite right. Like that is not a crisis. It's it's a mild irritation, but also a quick like, hey, next time you can you hang my t shirts instead of folding them? Absolutely. That's a pretty small course correction. It allows some kind of a safe place to practice that delegation with low stakes things.
Kate Ginsberg (00:47:12) - You know, they're not going to lose $1 million if we if we don't chop their hand correctly, you know, they might have to reach up their hand into smaller pieces. But like, that's not the end of the world. Let us know. We'll fix it next time, you know. But it allows them to practice those delegation skills. And I've literally had to tell some clients like you are micromanaging me, and if you aren't going to trust me to do this, that's okay. But you're wasting your money in my time. So either trust me fully to do this, or do it yourself and give me something else to do. And that kind of clicks a label for some people, like you are doing things that are more important than this, and I understand it's important that this be done correctly, but also. I'm here to to do things the way you tell me. So we need to work on communicating clearly expectations. And if it matters how it's done, tell me how it needs to be done.
Kate Ginsberg (00:48:16) - But if the end is the only thing that really matters to you, don't micromanage my meetings. And you know, I have developed ways of doing things over the years that are more efficient than what you might know or that are more effective than what you might know. Let me teach you. Let me, you know, let me work through my process. And then if you want adjustments made, cool, but don't micromanage me. I had one client in particular who man in his 30s, very, very driven, very successful, and I had helped provide small business support for him as he was kind of building his his a physical therapist, building his practice, and I was helping with, he would record podcasts or write blog posts and I would do it all in WordPress, get it all set up. And the one day he had he had new design options for his logo. And he's like, well, is this one better or is this one better? And like, there are two slightly different shades of blue.
Kate Ginsberg (00:49:24) - No one cares as much as you. And as we were going through this process, he was writing his first e-book and I was helping with the launch and I was like, I or we, we did. Excuse me. This was he had launched his first e-book, he was writing the second, and I was like, I will help you with this, but only if you do not micromanage me, because that was really stressful for me the last time and everything worked out fine. And worst case scenario, you change the little e-book picture that you put up like this is not the end of the world. I need you to calm down. And so I told him I was like, I will help you with this, but you get six shits to get about what? Like you get six. And after that I make your decisions. Do you agree? And he's like, what do you mean? I'm like, you get to ask me six times, and then if you second guess me, that's one of your shits.
Kate Ginsberg (00:50:20) - Like, if you ask for my opinion and immediately disregard it and continue anxiety spiraling, I'm not doing that. So you get to do that six times and then I make all your choices. And he went, okay. And he started to do the thing with the two logos. And I'm like, is this one of your shits? Because I feel like it's one of your shits. And he's like, no, no, no, this one's good. Excellent. We're making progress. and so and he did like he saved his bandwidth for making the big, important decisions and stopped kind of worrying about all the tiny little details that like, nobody is going to notice but you. Yeah, nobody. That's where it really is. I love the six shits, I really do. We. When my husband and I were getting married for the for our wedding, I said, we we each pick our three. So six until I said, what are the three things that most matter to you? And what are the three things that most matter to me? And that's it.
Kate Ginsberg (00:51:21) - Everything else is gravy. Like the three things we each get our three phenomenal, great. It prevents from the micromanagement. Well, and the and the circling and the panicking over every tiny decision like. And none of your guests at your wedding are going to care that it was, you know, orange marmalade filling instead of orange cream. Philly like nobody knows. Nobody knows but you. The flower arrangements weren't quite right. Nobody knows about you. Nobody knows but you that there there was supposed to be a second flower girl and she's out because she's sick. Nobody knows but you. And you want to know what everybody enjoyed celebrating your wonderful day. And that's the most important thing. Everything else, like you said, is gravy. It's the sprinkles. It's the whipped cream. It's the cherry. It's not the most important thing. So let's just not get bogged down in details that aren't going to matter next week, next month or next year. Yeah, and wasting your precious life energy on that. That's what your service so beautifully provides, is that it's preventing people from going into that anxiety spiral over the tiny details of things that have easy fixes, if you just choose not to do it all.
Kate Ginsberg (00:52:40) - Yeah, yeah, but learning not to do it all when you've been raised and do it all culture is hard. And oh gosh, I think we're about the same age. Like I was raised in the mean girl era where it was tearing other women down and, well, did you see what she's wearing? We're done with that. We're done with that. We're done with do it all culture. No, we're not doing that. We're not burning ourselves out. But we're not lighting ourselves on fire to keep other people warm. We're not doing it. We are filling our own cups. We are stating our needs clearly, and we are getting those needs met and we're not feeling guilty about it. Amen, Amen. And I'm like, I love the fact that you are reframing support from being a luxury to being a necessity, which is actually what it's always culturally been until a part, until, you know, that's volunteers. Like we have all like that tribally. That is what we used to do.
Kate Ginsberg (00:53:44) - And that ability of generating a multitude of skill sets around you so that you get to operate in this space where you shine and if you shine in to dos, then you are finding the team of the doers. It's I mean, I honestly like my team is one of the things I am most like, in awe of and grateful for because they allow me to dream bigger and to step back for six weeks like no company has an executive that steps back for six weeks at the drop of a hat to to take care of their spouse like nobody does that. I get to do that because I am doing things on my terms, my terms, and I have built a team around me that I trust to make the decisions, like I would make the decisions and to do the right thing and do things that align with us and our goals. Because we are very particular about hiring people who don't just see the vision, but believe in the vision, and who have had those times in their own lives where they lack support and times in their lives where they've had it, and they know what a difference that makes and how different that feels.
Kate Ginsberg (00:55:04) - It's such a game changer, and so many people have never experienced it, whether it's trauma based or whether it's just it's just how life has panned out for them. Once you have that help, that is not conditional. It doesn't have strings attached. It's not it doesn't come with judgment about all the things you're not doing. It's just, no, I'm here to help. Like, tell me what what you need, you know, tell me what is most helpful. And if I'm doing something that's not helpful, if I'm pairing your socks, your mismatched socks, and you're like, oh my God, please, for the love of God, just check all the toilet paper in the bathrooms and make sure that every bathroom has a couple of rolls. Because I have gotten stuck for the last three days, because my kids have used all the toilet paper. Like, those are the things we want to do for people, you know, like make sure my kids have their favorite snacks, make sure I have snacks that are available to grab.
Kate Ginsberg (00:55:58) - You know, like every week I have hard boiled two dozen eggs, personal health, full of egg salad. Eat them. Will I do that for a client who needs quick, high protein snacks that he can just grab easily and go? Absolutely. You know, and so meeting other people's needs, whether they're really simple or really complex, it changes people. It allows them to then turn around and pour into their relationships and their communities and their work and change those lives. They're not so stressed that they're snapping at everybody and losing their temper over tiny, tiny little things. They're responding with patience and understanding and realizing that, like that teeny tiny detail isn't the end of the world. You know, the email that went out with the misspelling isn't going to cost them clients because probably none of their clients no deaths. Yeah, but or if they do notice and they're like me and they'll just send it and they'll send me an email and be like, hey, you guys smell the moola. And you're like, yeah, on that.
Kate Ginsberg (00:57:03) - And they spelled cojones and moolah. Oh, man, happens to the best of them. So on our team, we always have a joke that when we're doing silly things like that, it's because our our brains are not fully engaged. And so they're Brian's like, we, Brian's in charge again. Like, suddenly, you know, anything goes wrong, we're just like, oh, damn it, Brian. Oh, that'll be hard when you hire someone named Brian. I know, I'm sorry. Your name is Ken. Now, so my last question is when it comes to scaling, because you've chosen this model like, it's it's a different model and it requires you to be very locally based for now. Yeah. As you're scaling, what are the challenges that you're choosing to face given the model that you've chosen to believe in. So we are really building the plane while we fly at like nobody has nobody has scaled this yet. It's not a thing like there's one off assistants. They might have 1 or 2 people on their team, you know, contractors or, or employees that they're kind of building things out with.
Kate Ginsberg (00:58:17) - We have a team of ten. We've had as many as 14 during our busy seasons. And and we've learned a lot along the way. some things we've learned the hard way, some we learned the first time the easy way. It just depends on the day and whether Brian's in charge or not. And so we. We really have leaned into utilizing our team's talents and skills to train. so as we continue to scale. Everybody on our team is potentially a trainer. you know, we don't have 1 or 2 people that train. We work with different personality types. We work in different types of clients with different client needs. And so every new employee gets trained with a couple of different existing employees, with a couple of different working styles. And we really encourage our team to be authentic and genuine and themselves, because your job shouldn't be an acting job on top of everything else. And so as we've scaled, we allow our clients and and employees to say, hey, this isn't a good fit for me.
Kate Ginsberg (00:59:22) - It doesn't it doesn't align for me, this person. And we're like, yeah, that's okay. Not all humans like all other humans. Let's let's figure this out. And so we will swap out different employees to meet client needs so that we don't have like we're not adding conflict to people's lives. And I think taking that extra step to ask upfront, are you an introvert or an extrovert. Do you like somebody who chats with you while they work? Because if we're organizing a closet or a garage and the client is helping us with that because there's sentimental items involved, it makes it easier. It makes it less overwhelming to have somebody who's chatting about their day and your kids and, you know, what do you do in your spare time? And, you know, hey, I haven't seen you in six months since we did the other kiddos bedroom. Like, tell me what's up. Like, we're genuinely interested in what people do, but if people are like, no, I talk to people all day.
Kate Ginsberg (01:00:14) - I'm introverted and I need to just not talk either we're there when they're not there, or we pair them with a team member who just pops in, or little EarPods and listens to a podcast or an audiobook and minds their business and gets the stuff done. So we really take that extra step to not just assign any random assistant, but to match carefully. And if they find it's not a good fit, say okay, not a problem and immediately get somebody else in and up to speed. And that's where our premium onboarding also comes in. Really handy is the entire team has access to that when they're assigned to that client. So, you know, if we have to sub somebody else in, they have access to all of the details of the household so that they can step in and get up to speed very quickly. It's not like starting over with a brand new assistant, you know, we adjust as we go. We've learned a lot in the last few years with having employees because again. I've never been in management.
Kate Ginsberg (01:01:13) - I don't know what I'm doing. Two raccoons in a trenchcoat. just like flying blind here. But making those choices that feel good for me and that feel aligned and feel like I am providing support and understanding and grace not just for our clients, but also our employees. We don't value one over the other. There are no clients if I don't have employees to to pair with them. So we need to take care of both sides of that and saying very bluntly, this person isn't a match for me. Like it feels like too much effort to go there. It feels like too much. It's eating up too much of my bandwidth. That's okay. I want that honest feedback so that we can adjust, as opposed to trying to force a relationship that just doesn't suit. So that's that's one of the keys to our successful scaling that we've had, is acknowledging not everybody's going to be a good fit and not making it a problem. Like, it's not anybody's fault that two humans don't get along like it.
Kate Ginsberg (01:02:17) - Just like not everybody likes everybody else. And that's okay. But speaking to that and saying this isn't a problem, but we need to to pivot this relationship to somebody else, that's fine. I'm here for that. Amazing. Kate, I have loved our conversation. I just adore you and what you're what you're creating, and you're building your strength and your resiliency and and your humor in facing everything that you're you're, you know, all the beauties that come along with growing the business. It's it's really wonderful to see you. You just excelling. And even sometimes I'm sure you may have those moments where you don't feel like you are. But I see it and you are just so phenomenal and I'm so excited to know you and it's been such a great chat. I love this so much. I would love to pivot real quick and turn into some rapid fire. Are you ready? I am ready. Who is your favorite female character in a book or a movie and why? Oh shit. oh my God, I love Sally from Harry met Sally.
Kate Ginsberg (01:03:26) - Like, she's just so delightful and hilarious and, like, imperfect. And I love her. Amazing. Who? What woman? Alive or alive in her time would you want to trade places with? Just for a day? To live in her body, see how she thought and experience what she experienced.
Kimberly Spencer (01:03:45) - Oh.
Kate Ginsberg (01:03:47) - I am going to go with Catherine O'Hara because I think she's so spectacular. Like, I especially like first day on set, Moira Rose. Like, that's who I would want to be in her brain and like, see how that all played out? Because that she is wild in that show. Oh my gosh. Amazing. What is your morning routine to set you up for success? Oh, I am a late sleeper. My husband gets up and takes the kids to school. I roll out of bed nine 930 and I have two cups of coffee. I take my ADHD meds if I remember, which is a little hit and miss, and I. I play Wordle and connections on the New York Times website before I do anything else during my day.
Kate Ginsberg (01:04:30) - Amazing. I've never even heard of Wordle. Are you kidding me? No. Go on. So you get six guesses to guess the five letter words and like, that's enough to wake my brain up and make me feel like I have an easy win at the very start of the day. That's amazing. That's amazing. I love it. What is your nightly routine to set you up for success in the morning? So I, my husband and I are big, big true crime fans. And so I watch murder documentaries to relax. At the end of the day, we also watch BattleBots on, it's on HBO Max now. And, like, there's nothing quite so satisfying as, like, it's a bunch of, like, robotics nerds, and they play it up like it's an NFL game and like, it's the funniest vibe and, like. And then you just watched £250 robots just like, mangle each other. It's it's very, very good. There's explosions. There's fire. Like there's metal flying everywhere.
Kate Ginsberg (01:05:29) - What's not to love? Oh that's amazing. That's phenomenal. Oh I think my son, my six year old who wants to build robots and like oh yeah. Yeah. You got to pull up the BattleBots. It's so good. It's amazing. It's so fun. What do you define to be your queendom? My queendom is making life a better for all. And lastly, how do you crown yourself, Kate? How do I crown myself? with the fanciest, glittery vibe only. Amen. How do we find you? How do we work with the queen of to do and get some stuff off our plates as business is done? Yeah. So you'll find us at Queen of To-Do dot com. And as queen of to do on all major social networks. Phenomenal. As always, my fellow sovereigns. Own your throne. Mind your business. Because your reign is now.
Kimberly Spencer (01:06:31) - Thank you so much for tuning in today. If what you heard resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and start creating a bigger impact now by sharing this with a friend.
Kimberly Spencer (01:06:39) - Just by doing that one simple act of kindness, you are creating a royal ripple to support more people in their sovereignty. And if you're not already following on social media, connect with me everywhere at Crown Yourself Now for more inspiration. I am so excited to connect with you in the next episode, and in the meantime, go out there and create a body, business and life that rules because today you crown yourself.
The Crown Yourself Podcast is a fast-growing self-improvement podcast, ranked in the top #200 personal-development podcasts in two countries, so far, out of 4.5 million podcasts. Each week, you get the conscious leadership strategies you need to help you reign with courage, clarity, and confidence so that you too can make the income and impact you deserve. Imagine this podcast as your royal invitation to step into your full potential and reign in your divine purpose. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.