Private Service
What on earth is private service? It sounds so stuffy. And conjures images of uniformed house-servants carrying gilded trays through mansions while people scrub marble floors by hand. You know, à la Warbucks Mansion.
The reality of a career in private service is typically far from that stereotype. Private Service employees work to support a principal family in their home environment. That home can be a teepee in the Colorado Mountains, a family yacht that circles the globe, or a simple suburban home with a one-car garage and busy working parents.
Housekeepers, nannies, babysitters, gardeners, estate managers, personal assistants, butlers and drivers all work in this field. The positions are wildly varied- from informal, part of the family types to uniformed housekeepers and classic social secretaries in business suits.
The industry is wildly misunderstood and stigmatized. The sensationalistic nature of the concept of domestic employees working for high net worth families makes for muddy waters when it comes to PR: labor and immigration rights, women’s lib, class structure and even indentured servitude come to mind. These are important matters. Less visible, however, is the reality of the many possibilities: that a butler can be a woman (more often called a household manager), and that her prowess with computers can be much more important than her understanding of silver polish. Or that she can be fairly paid, and a valued and respected member of a team that supports hard-working parents simply achieve their goals.
Several member-driven associations have cropped up in recent years to attempt to educate the public about the fascinating world of private service, and to address the need to unify and define the core values of the industry.