Latest / Serious Lady Business / Running a Household Like a Business: Why Moms Need a Team Too
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- LESLIE YOUNGBLOOD (00:03) Hey there, I'm Leslie Youngblood and this is Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a business as a woman today. From late night Google searches and client curveballs to the wins that make it all worth it, I'm talking about the stuff no one puts in the highlight reel. Each week, I'm bringing you honest conversations, lessons learned and stories from women who are out here doing the work. Messy, meaningful and unapologetically bold. Whether you're just dreaming about starting a business or deep in the grind, this podcast is your space to feel seen, supported, and fired up. Because let's be honest, this journey is hard, hilarious, and absolutely worth it. So let's dive in. Leslie Youngblood (00:51) Welcome back to Serious Lady Business. I'm Leslie Youngblood, your host, feminist and founder of Youngblood MMC, a marketing media and content agency. And I am so excited to have Kelly Hubbell with us here today on Serious Lady Business. She is a mom of three and founder of Sage Haus a platform dedicated to helping busy parents reclaim their time and energy by outsourcing the mental load and building a reliable village of support. Her mission is to ensure moms on any budget get the help they deserve so they can feel more present, whether it's enjoying time with their families, growing their careers, or pursuing personal passions. Welcome to Serious Lady Business, Kelly. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (01:32) Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Leslie Youngblood (01:35) my gosh, I feel like anybody listening that is a mom just felt all of the intro of what you do just so deeply. And we're talking today about how running a household like a business and how moms need teams too. And I just think stage house is so revolutionary and important and needed. And so I kind of want to start at the beginning with you. Was there a moment you realize that the way we talk about doing it all was totally broken? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (02:03) I mean, yes. So the short answer is yes. The long answer is I feel like I came to that realization pretty early on in motherhood myself. So I think as many of us, we have been modeled a certain, know, do it all or super mom sort of persona that we are following in the footsteps of. Leslie Youngblood (02:12) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (02:25) and we have been for a long time. And we are all simultaneously being told by our culture and by society that we can have it all and we can do it all. that is just not true. It's not the case. We have to find balance and boundaries. And we need support systems in place for us to be able to do all of those things. So for me, I personally went into parenthood Leslie Youngblood (02:38) Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (02:49) like we all do with lot of gusto, I have my first and then it wasn't until my second came around that like the wheels started falling off the bus in my household. And where I was like, okay, I see the path that I'm going down, which is me trying to do it all, be the super mom. And I knew that it was a path to burnout and I didn't want that. And so for me, it was... Leslie Youngblood (02:58) Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (03:13) It was sitting down and realizing, basically calculating all of the time I was spending managing my household on top of my full-time job. That was such an eye-opening experience. Like when you start adding up things like cleaning out the coffee filter, taking out the garbage. Like all of the things we're doing, I mean, I was clocking in it. Leslie Youngblood (03:23) Mm-hmm. I'd be scared to. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (03:35) 22 hours a week on top of my full-time job just by managing my household. And I was like, this isn't sustainable, you Leslie Youngblood (03:42) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah. And so then you realize, which is so, I feel like so wonderful of you to realize that like, my God, like this is not sustainable. I'm gonna crash and burn. I can't crash and burn because I have this family, I have this job. When did like the idea for Sage Haus come to you? Like how did that come to be out of that realization? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (04:03) Yeah, yeah. So Sage Haus was born out of my experience in this, like this scenario that I'm that I'm describing to you, me feeling overwhelmed. my gosh, super anxious. And by the way, I think it's important to to to note that I'm married. have a partner. He is a small business owner and runs his own technology investment bank, travels a lot for client work and is very much an equitable partner in like our marriage. Right. Like ⁓ I think when we talk a lot about division of labor and mental load and all of these topics, I think ⁓ those can really be very inflammatory around that. what I tell clients I work with and working couples every day is even when you have this super highly functioning couple or the most well-intentioned partners, there still just aren't enough hours in the day. Leslie Youngblood (04:53) Right. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (04:54) to get everything done. Like there just aren't, like if you are both working full time, there just aren't enough hours to do all the other things. And so you need more help. So for me, having that realization and like not passing blame, not being like, no, I'm not doing enough, he's not doing enough, right? It was just like, this is the fact. The fact is these are all the things that need to happen in our home and we're burning out trying to do all of them. Leslie Youngblood (05:08) Great. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (05:17) So like, how can we find more support? And so basically what I did is we took all that like lists that I made of all the things I was doing. I turned it into a job description. We ended up like putting it out in the universe, called it a house manager because I didn't know what to call it at the time. This is like five years ago. Now I know some people call it like family assistant or like there's other names for this. But we ended up finding someone that was so amazing and Leslie Youngblood (05:28) Mmm. Right? Yeah. Ooh, huh? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (05:46) basically life-changing for our family. came in, they helped us eight to 12 hours a week with all the things. They were basically like my clone and did the errands and the laundry and the buying gifts for the birthday party. Like all the things I was doing, I basically started offloading to my house manager. It was so life-changing for me that I started sharing this with other women and other moms and people in my network. was like, hey, I think I cracked the code. It's that we all need more capacity and like, Leslie Youngblood (05:53) Mm. No. Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (06:13) a little bit of time every week for you to like offload that huge invisible labor can be life changing. And so that's really how Sage Haus was born was that I started helping other people find the same support I had. And then about a year ago, I quit my corporate job and now fully dedicating my career to helping other families find this kind of support because Leslie Youngblood (06:19) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (06:39) Again, it's so life changing and it's not as cut and dry as our society and culture has said it is today. feel like today you hear from a mom like, you're overwhelmed. You just need a nanny or like you just need a house cleaner. And it's like, hold on, wait a minute. No, I have childcare. Like my kids are in school or like I have a house cleaner, but like it's actually a bigger than that. It's a, it's a different category in and itself of like, Leslie Youngblood (06:48) you Mm. Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (07:07) having a true family assistant who would step in and do whatever your family needs that day. And that's like the versatile holistic help that like we are missing in our current culture. Leslie Youngblood (07:18) Right, yes, that's so true. it's great because it's not just the one and done thing and you do have the help, but it's like that, like you said, that comprehensive, it feels like so much. And I think that is also too why we men and women, spouses, partners, have a difficult time thinking that there's a solution to this problem because it feels like it's so many different things and there could never be a solution for this. And how do I, know, even when you recognize you have a problem and you need to do better, and you take, know, act on the problem and try to solve it, it still feels like such a difficult lift and an impossible task. And so I just love that Sage Haus is coming in to be like, no, it is possible. We're going to help you. I've done it. We'll show you how. Well, you know, tell us a little bit about like how Sage Haus works too, because I think it's so fantastic. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (07:52) Mm hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, no, happy to I and you totally hit the nail on the head in saying like families talk themselves out of this. And I think there are so many barriers that we put in place, whether we think like, I can't afford that. Like, there's no way I could afford or ⁓ like, I can do all those things. So why would I hire someone else to do them? Like there are mindset barriers. There are financial barriers. There are still stigma barriers for people worried about what would someone think of me like? Leslie Youngblood (08:11) Mmm. Bye. Mm-hmm. Right. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (08:32) if I had more support in my home. like there are certain specific barriers here. But we are here to say like, we'll do all the hard work for you. And so that's what Sage Haus does is we meet with families and learn everything we can about them, what their routines are, what their pain points are, their biggest challenges. And from essentially a kickoff call with a family, we come up with a custom tailored job description. Leslie Youngblood (08:46) Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (08:57) for the kind of support that they need specifically in their home. And then once they say, yep, that's the Mary Poppins I'm looking for, we then go out and do all the hard work. So we are finding candidates, we are interviewing them, vetting them, taking them through essentially a rigorous process based on our knowledge of the family, what the family needs, are they open to like all of these things, right? Leslie Youngblood (09:01) Hmm. Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (09:23) So we do all the hard work and then within four to six weeks, we deliver two top candidates to the family we're working with and we say, we'll coordinate the interviews for you. And then once the family's like wants to move forward, we do all the reference checks and provide summaries. ⁓ We provide all our clients with the ⁓ employment agreement that they can use to document the relationship. Leslie Youngblood (09:44) Amazing. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (09:45) And then we run like the biggest background check ever on the market, right? Because we wanna ensure and have that peace of mind that the people we are placing in homes are 100 % amazing people. ⁓ And that's it. And then I think the big part that really differentiates Sage Haus from any other sort of like household staffing, if you will, or agency like that is that, Leslie Youngblood (09:48) Thank Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (10:09) we believe that it's really twofold. So it's not just support. So it's not just like the person we find for you. That's super amazing and special. And we'll meet all of the criteria and fill the roles and responsibilities your family needs. But it's the system that you create behind it. And this kind of gets into like running your home like a business, right? The systems piece, which is Leslie Youngblood (10:24) Mmm. Yes. Yes. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (10:33) If this person is amazing and you hire them, but like they don't know how your home runs or how you want your home to run and what are the systems behind it, then you're stuck. So we have over the last two plus years worked with hundreds of families to create what we call our home systems playbook. And that is essentially a digital course on a playbook where we've, we give our clients a 90 % of the way done template. They fill in the blanks of how we want. Leslie Youngblood (10:40) you Wow. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (11:00) how they want their home to run so that they can give it to the person they hire so that they can delegate all the, they can get all the mental load out of their brain and into this playbook so that now other people can do stuff besides them or just all of the things they're holding in there. Leslie Youngblood (11:09) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that is so key and it really does feel like you're running your family like a business. And we've talked about that before, like I'm chief of household and, you know, as a mom or as a parent, right. And but then when it comes to looking for good help to help you, you feel stuck or you feel like that's silly, like no way. But there it's it's it's the only way to really like survive. And like you said, look, whether it's a business or it's your home and you hire somebody great. They want to do a good job. And I feel like so much of bad hiring quote unquote is because they're that person coming in doesn't have clear parameters about what they're expected to do. And they want to do just as good of a job as you want them to do. And so I just love that you have that added piece. And because it really does feel like not only are you essentially a human resources system for families, which could there be a more important job to find that wonderful Mary Poppins person, but then to actually tack Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (11:48) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (12:12) the tactics of implementing that great find into their homes and ensuring that is a great fit is probably like so much more key than anything. And I'm sure that blows the families away that you've worked with where they're like, yeah, I never thought to get all this out of my brain before and give this or that I wanted them to make my bed a certain way or I don't know all those things that you might think are silly, but that person wants to know what to do. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (12:33) Yeah, yes. And they want to do a good job. Yeah, exactly. Leslie Youngblood (12:40) Yes, I just I just love it so much. And I also think that over the years, I'm sure you've experienced this being, you know, in it every day is we're finally having more of these conversations. And I was just talking with somebody somebody the other day about our generation, millennials. I'm a millennial and how we grew up and you're going to be a working girl and like working girl in the girl boss era, which was toxic. But you also want to be a mom and you also want to have a family. And you think that, I can do it all. Like, shouldn't I be able to do it all? And then, no, you don't. You don't know what you're doing at all. And so, of course, you're going to burn out. but you're not taught to ask for help. Similar to the conversations we've seen evolve around postpartum depression, paramenopause, menopause. Women weren't talking about these things, you know, 20 years ago, even 10, five years ago. And now we are because it is. something that is so needed to our health and wellbeing, not just of us as parents, but of our children as well. And so I'm sure you tell us a little bit about how you've seen the conversation change over the years. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (13:38) Hmm? Yeah, mean, I'm seeing it, I'm finally seeing it change. think moms are finally like putting their foot down and they're saying like, hold on a minute. I don't want to be a super mom. this whole, don't subscribe to this do it all or thing anymore because I don't, it doesn't serve me. And so I think moms are starting to find that, Leslie Youngblood (13:52) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (14:06) breaking point and that balance and the confidence and bravery to say like something's got to change here and I'm going to be that change because I think another thing that like we've all just realized is like there's no safety net for us like for better or for worse that's just what it is like there are no you know government safety nets and like I mean I mean child care is a whole other issue right women's health like all of these things that you're mentioning Leslie Youngblood (14:12) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (14:33) ⁓ and so we're taking it into our own hands and saying like, need support. and we're not afraid to go and ask for help. So I think that's like what I've been seeing is the conversation really changing and. It's really empowering and it's really like, gives me a lot of optimism for how we, how our kids are seeing us, how we're, how we're breaking the cycle and how we're seeing this change. Leslie Youngblood (14:48) Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (14:59) ⁓ because it now is the time to do it. Like we, can't wait. We've got it. And more, more women than ever are in the workforce. Like, I mean, it's just, it's, it's the, we're ripe for change. We're right for conversations and like having just these conversations and normalizing it, I think is a huge part of this. Like when I set out and I launched Sage Haus, like part of me just wanted to really normalize. Leslie Youngblood (15:04) Yeah. right. Awesome. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (15:25) having support in your home, even if you're not some like ultra super rich millionaire that's like has an estate manager and a butler and that's not what this is. Like what this is is like, what I, my goal is, is like in five, 10, 15 years, I want the term house manager or family assistant to be what people like nannies are today. Like, right, you see someone you're like, yeah, that's my nanny. People are like, cool. Or like, yeah, I have a house cleaner. Okay, cool. Leslie Youngblood (15:30) Sure. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (15:52) 50 years ago, if you said we have a house cleaner, can you imagine? What would the neighbors say, right? And so that's what I'm hoping, like we get this out of our system and we just start to normalize this. Leslie Youngblood (15:54) Right. Right. Yeah, was. ⁓ yeah. Yes. Right. Right. Right. Yeah, let's talk more about what you said there about because I certainly, of course, would think, they have a house manager. You must be rich or you must be like wealthy. Like, and I, you know, I'm tracking the price of groceries and we got another three kids playing baseball and this and that. And that is BS. Like, right. Like it shouldn't just be something that the wealthy can have. Like, right. It should be everyday moms and dads trying to make things work because we're the ones that need the most help. And so I would love to talk more about that too and how that is very much part of the Sage Haus mission. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (16:41) Yeah, I mean, our mission is to make this really accessible and help people understand that this isn't like a break the bank type scenario and to look into it before you just decide like, we can't afford something like that. We're seeing across the board. So we work with 15 families a month all over the US and Canada. And we're seeing Leslie Youngblood (17:00) Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (17:11) essentially like hourly pricing for a house manager or family assistant, very similar to what like a nanny would be like in someone's area. I always tell people, I'm like, it depends, of course, on where you live, cost of living, and it depends on how experienced someone is in the role. But across the board, like $25 to $45 an hour, I know it's a really big range, but like, you know, Leslie Youngblood (17:23) Mm-hmm. Of course. Mmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (17:36) 10 hours a week at $30 an hour, $300 a week. Yeah, like that's a financial commitment for your family, sure. But we all are like making decisions. we're, know, financial decisions are like very, very deeply personal for families. I mean, for our family, it was like, we could either drive really nice new cars and lease two new cars and have monthly payments, or we could have a house manager. And like, Leslie Youngblood (17:39) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ huh. Right. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (18:04) That was a really easy one. Like me and my husband were like, yeah, we're okay driving our nine-year-old Subaru Forester because it is worth its weight in gold to have the support on a daily basis so that we can spend quality time with our kids in the mornings and evenings. We're not multitasking and doing a hundred things that at the same time. So, so yeah, my goal is like just to get people to really think about how not Leslie Youngblood (18:12) Thank you. Right. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (18:29) Instead of being about it as like an expense line item, as an investment in your family, in your mental health, your physical health, your career, especially for entrepreneurs who are like every minute that I'm spending not working is like a minute, you know, I'm not building something. So yeah, so yeah, my goal is just to really make this Leslie Youngblood (18:32) Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (18:52) way more attainable, approachable, affordable than I think people think. Leslie Youngblood (18:56) Yeah, I think that's amazing. And as it should be, right? And you just touched on something there that I wanna go into with women who are small business owners, parents that are small business owners. How has the impact of that, like that household support, how have you seen it ripple into someone's business growth? Because we talk a lot, you're a female and you probably know, cause you're a female founder as well too. Like even like with your own business growth, tell us like truly about that. like real impact in that person's career. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (19:26) Yeah, well, I mean, I can talk about it in multiple ways. I mean, for my in my own experience, right, I started Sage Haus as a little side hustle when I was still working in my corporate job. ⁓ I would have never been able to start Sage Haus as a cute little side hustle. If I didn't have the support at home, because you can bet that I, you know, spending two, four, six hours a week of my own time building Sage Haus. Leslie Youngblood (19:37) Mm-hmm. you Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (19:53) I wouldn't have had that time if I was doing all my laundry, meal prepping all of our food, doing the grocery shopping, running the errand. That is where the time came from for me to start my business. so, I mean, for me, I am now, I can't imagine a world where I hadn't done the thing that I felt so passionately about doing because I didn't have the support to do it. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (19:56) Yeah. Yeah. Right. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (20:17) So, I mean, that was a huge impact in my life and then continues to be today because even though I'm full time on Sage Haus, I rely heavily on my house manager to support me, especially, and this is like a common theme I see across a lot of our clients, which is parents and partners, like one of them, if they're traveling a lot for work is like, Leslie Youngblood (20:36) Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (20:37) having an extra set of adult hands around when your spouse is traveling because of the pickups and the activities and the schedules and like you can't be at all. We've got three kids. I can't be at all three places at different times. Like I need somebody to help me. So for us, we live far from family. A lot of our clients also live far from family and they don't have like that consistent reliable support. Leslie Youngblood (20:47) Yeah. and Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (21:00) And so I rely heavily on my house manager and it allows my husband as a small business owner to take those meetings. Why to see that client? And maybe it's last minute, but it's like, he's got to go do that. And that's, helping him grow his business. And if we couldn't do that, because I was like, well, you can't be gone then because I need help. Someone has to be picked up here and does it up. And they would literally limit him and his ability to grow his business. mean, Leslie Youngblood (21:05) Yeah. ⁓ Mm-hmm. Right. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (21:25) So I see this all the time with, especially with entrepreneurs that we work with and they see it very clearly too as an investment in their career. Leslie Youngblood (21:34) Yeah. And I think too, when you think, oh, why can't you just have your parents do it or your in-laws do it or your aunts and uncles or like neighbors? And yes, how lucky can you be when you have that in your life? Right. But I have very present parents and in-laws, but yet they also, feel like the older grandparents these days, I'm going to speak from my experience. I want to make a general sweeping. like, you know, statement, but they're busy. Like they're off traveling. They're in Florida for half the year. And so it's like they're not as hands on and close as it was when I was growing up. And I and my grandparents were there all the time because my parents were working. And so it's like I want them to go and do those things. I want them to live their their best lives for as long as possible. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (22:03) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (22:22) but I also want some help sometimes. And so this is just why it's even more important than ever, because as we age, we'll probably want to do the same things too. And so we also have to create this opportunity for the next generation coming up and showing them like, yes, it is possible. And it's not as difficult as it was for us. We've made it easier for you because we have tools like Sage Haus and have conversations now and understand the importance of having that help. And it's not taboo. And it's needed and important. the more it allows you to grow and thrive in the ways that you do as well. You don't have to give up your dreams unless you want to, right? And so I just think it's just so, so key in that regard as well. Kelly, tell me what is like the first system or task you recommend outsourcing or organizing overwhelmed parents? Is there one thing? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (23:11) Yeah, I would say a lot of the parents we work with are really interested in meal prep and having help with like meals and planning and grocery shopping and restocking. So, and that's like what we actually did. Even before we had a house manager, we ended up having like, we had someone come in our home and cook like batch cook for like three hours. Leslie Youngblood (23:21) Bye! Mmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (23:37) on a weekend so that we had a bunch of food ready for the week. And so I would say most of the families we work with have this like hybrid house manager role who also supports them on like we'll make some meals for the week or at least prep some food and manages like all of their grocery and pantry and all of those orders and stuff like that. So I would say that's a really, really big one. And then I would say the follow up one to that is like, again, most of our families need some sort of childcare, whether that's like from three to five, or they want one date night a week. So their house manager or family assistant like, you know, watches kids one night a week. And then I would also say laundry is a really big one. Like all the family, all the families we work with are like, yeah, we need laundry off our plate immediately, because that's like an automatic four hours back in our life. You know what I mean? So Leslie Youngblood (24:08) Okay. I'm going use it. Mmm. Yeah, it's like an impossible task. I've always like tell my husband like find a new dream. We got to find a new dream. The laundry is never going to be all done, right? Because as soon as you get that one. So it would be so nice to have somebody else make that their dream. I like in that way. And the food prep too, because whether you have one kid or three or four, I mean, these kids, they go through so much food and it feels like not only do you have to make Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (24:37) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (24:48) you know, want to make a healthy, nutritious, delicious meal for your kids to eat. But then you also don't want to you want to also eat healthy, too. And to try to find that balance of something to that, like everybody will eat and you have all the ingredients and you can make it in the time frame, that little time frame that you have to make it. It again feels like an impossible task. So to have somebody come in and be able to take the lead on that and ensure that that is, you know, what is happening in your home. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (24:56) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (25:16) my gosh, mind blowing just. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (25:17) It's literally the difference too of like, for me, for my kids, there are six, and two. And like my oldest gets, you know, off the bus at three o'clock and then we get, we pick up our other two from daycare around four. And for me, it's like the difference of spending two hours, hanging out and playing and going like the other day, like we went for an hour long family bike ride from five to 6 PM and like. Leslie Youngblood (25:38) Aww. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (25:40) I just thought to myself, if we didn't have dinner preps, like I would have basically just been, while my kids were out playing, I would have been like cooking dinner, cleaning all the pots and pans. Like, and I just thought, wow, I'm feeling like so much gratitude for having like a nap. I heated up lasagna in like five minutes, like, ⁓ because we just had it ready in, our fridge. And, and like, I just felt like, man, I just really enjoyed like connecting and spending time. Leslie Youngblood (25:48) We'll see you then. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (26:06) quality time with my kids for this last hour. And like, wouldn't have been able to do this had we not had this kind of support. So yeah, it's just really interesting how, you know, how you can reframe it. Leslie Youngblood (26:11) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I think that just really speaks to my next question is, that's just the impact of your own home. Like what would the world look like, Kelly, if we normalized team supported households? It's kind of a big question. Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (26:28) ⁓ it would be such a good life. my gosh. Well, here's what happened. We'd all be happier. We'd all feel more connected with our kids and our spouses and our family and we would like probably feel a lot less overwhelmed and anxious and depressed and we would have more capacity for love and generosity and like building you know, businesses we were Leslie Youngblood (26:33) Yeah. me. Mmm. community. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (26:54) passionate about all of those things. So I just think like a well-resourced woman, ⁓ well-resourced family is like just really one of the best gifts that you can give yourself. Leslie Youngblood (27:04) Totally. And not only that, like the ripple effect within your family, but you're also creating jobs and opportunity for other people to come into homes and to work with families. Right. That's not, know, we talk so much about AI. feel like right. Like AI is like the big thing in AI jobs. They're going to take your, you know, it's going to take your jobs and the world is changing. It's always going to change. And so maybe those jobs that AI had, but we don't have robots that are in our homes quite like we're far out. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (27:11) Yeah? Yeah. Now we talk about that all the time actually at H-House how this role and I'm glad that you said this because we are actually launching a training and certification program soon for people who want to become house managers and family assistants but don't really know like how to market themselves that way or like how to get that kind of job and then they become a part of our network and then we can place them with the families we're working with but we say that all the time like this Leslie Youngblood (27:33) Yeah. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (27:57) role is AI proof because until we've got robots like the Jetsons, like unloading our dishwasher and doing our laundry and all that stuff, like this is an AI proof job and families need this kind of support more than us. Leslie Youngblood (28:06) Rosie. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. There were many, many years away from that type of robot, laundry robot. And there'll probably be different types of robots for all the different things. And it'll cost a million dollars when it first comes out, because that's the way that how technology is, right? When flat screen TVs and phones came out, right? And so there was a barrier to entry. And this is something too, that like the barrier to entry is getting more more attainable for people as well. And so I just, know, the economic benefits are just monumental. And I'm sure that's of course something that you share as you look to grow Sage Haus. Do you find it's difficult to get that point across to people in certain times, Kelly? Like tell us like, or is it, they're like, no, yeah. Like the more parents we have focusing and building their careers and building out small businesses and employing more people, like it seems like a no-brainer. I mean, it seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm sure. that a lot of people will still feel like, no, I could never do that. And like, no, like it should be, no. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (29:09) Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think I think we're I think the the there's more people coming into the that's a no brainer camp than the ones that are like, no, I can do that. So I should just keep doing it. ⁓ And so that's what we are seeing so much demand at Sage Haus for this kind of support in people's homes. And then we're also seeing a huge demand for like, Leslie Youngblood (29:18) Hmm. Yeah. one. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (29:37) people wanting jobs like this because they are. They're really wonderful, well-paying, safe jobs with families who need the support. ⁓ I don't know, for me, I'm like, dang, I wish that instead of being a bartender in college, I was like a house manager for a family. I feel like I would have loved that. like, you know, we've got people doing Uber driving, Lyft driving, door dashing, and like, that's great. I also think that Leslie Youngblood (29:39) with you. Right? Good night. Hey, wait! Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (30:03) there are ways that you can be really impactful and make more money and like really truly impact a family's life. And so I think these are like really great jobs then. So I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (30:07) Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. And you don't have to deal with drunk people at three in the morning in your bar. mean, kids can be crazy, but it's on a whole different level of crazy and right. And it's just so needed. And to, you know, again, have like that connection with a family too. Right. And you're not just like, again, like driving a car. You're it's just and you're not sitting at a desk like you're active and you're engaging and you're truly helping and you're building that relationship with that family too. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (30:23) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (30:42) that understands how important you are to them as well, which I think is, it's not unpaid labor, right? This is not like bring somebody in just like an in-law or a parent that's like, gonna do your laundry for you. But it's like, this is a real, legitimate, important job. And the benefits of this are monumental in all the different directions that it can go. So I think that's, again, so exciting and incredible to... to see the possibility and to see us going in that direction. Now, Kelly, what is the small shift a listener could make this week to reduce chaos at home? Let's say they're listening, they're like, yes, I want, I would love it, but I'm not ready for that yet, but I need to make some kind of change. What would you suggest to them? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (31:26) Yeah, I would, I would suggest to just start having the conversation with your partner if you have one, or like honestly with yourself around like, what kind of permission could you give yourself this week to take something off your plate? And what would that? What would that ripple effect look like for you? like, Leslie Youngblood (31:37) Hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (31:49) If you got had one hour back, just thinking about if you have one hour back in your day, how would you spend that hour? Would you be able to finally like catch that workout class or like call a friend to connect or, you know, meditate or do something creative? ⁓ how would that impact you? we actually have, we have a quiz on our website, so you can link it in the show notes, on stage house.com, but it's like a two minute quiz. It's a couple of questions and. Leslie Youngblood (31:55) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (32:17) when you click through it, the results show you about how much time you're spending managing your household. And it gives you custom tailored suggestions on ideas for things that you could take off your plate. And it also gives you, we have a little download that's like 100 tasks that you could outsource today. So that's like a good little... Leslie Youngblood (32:38) Woo! Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (32:40) idea generator on how you could start thinking about getting things off of your plate. But yeah, I would just say. Think about the value of your time. Leslie Youngblood (32:49) Mm. Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (32:50) and how important it is for you and yeah, just really truly like think about that. What does that hour mean for you? Leslie Youngblood (33:01) Yes, I love that. And like you said, how important it is for you because you are the most important person in your family. Your family cannot function without you functioning, right? moms don't get sick days, dads don't get sick days, right? And you functioning and feeling your best is going to enable your family to function and be its best. And I think so many times as women, we feel like it's selfish to... get the haircut or buy ourselves the shoes when the kids need shoes and the kids need haircuts. But it's so much deeper than that. It's like investing in yourself is investing in your family because it enables you to come as that 100 % person that you are for them. And so that narrative is bullshit. And I know it's easy to say and hard to do because even as women, I remember when I had my first baby and I was Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (33:38) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (33:55) so tired as you know, as one is. And my mother-in-law was like, you know, you can put the baby down. And I was like, I can put the baby down. I can put the baby down. Like, why am I? Yeah, like I can just put the baby down, just put them on the, like they don't need to go like, they can just go on the blanket on the floor. Like, what am I doing trying to do everything with the baby? Like, what a ridiculous thing. But then you need people and businesses and opportunities to like. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (34:11) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (34:20) show you what is possible and like, know, if you can't see it, you can't be in that way. It's like until you know that it's possible. Like these are the tasks that from, you know, that download, like these are the tasks I could offload this week and like, and I could have somebody like come in and do this for me and Sage Haus could potentially help me find that person that could do that. like total mind melt. Right. Like and that's the importance of having the conversations and the importance of doing those things. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (34:40) Yeah, yep. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (34:48) Did you always want to be an entrepreneur Kelly or like because you were you were sharing how you had your corporate job? that were you always entrepreneurial? Was that or were you like no never in a million years did I think I'd be doing this? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (34:58) felt really entrepreneurial. I was in sales for most of my career and sales really gives you sort of like a book of business and like hitting your quota and like kind of being right kind of running your own little business within a business is kind of how I always felt about sales. So I, I would say I've always sort of had that like entrepreneurial spirit for sure. Leslie Youngblood (35:05) Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. Well, tell us, Kelly, what is next for you and Sage Haus looking ahead? Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (35:22) Yeah, well, we are hoping to ramp up more families that we can support. I think I mentioned right now we service 15 families a month. We're hoping to go up to closer to 20 by the end of the year, a month. We are also launching our training and certification program for people who want to become house managers, which is very exciting. And then, yeah, just continuing to do everything we can to support busy families. We are We are launching ⁓ a workshop series this fall all around home systems. like basically free workshops around like how to create your own home systems and run your home like a business and preparation for school starting and then the holidays and then the new year ahead. like all of that good home system stuff. So that's kind of it. yeah, I mean, we're excited. We feel like we are really like creating and owning a new category almost in this space of household support for families. And it's really impactful and it's really exciting. Leslie Youngblood (36:24) Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's so fantastic. It's so exciting to chat with you today about it because, again, as a professional working mom who loves what I do professionally and loves my kids and feels like I should be able, I should be able, you know, like we should all over ourselves. Right. But like you now seeing that there are tools in, you know, services in place to help us and empower us to be our best selves, because that's really at the end of day what it's all about. And when you're your best family's your best, all those things. And it's so inspirational, Kelly. It's just such a fan. Appreciate the time that you've spent with us today on Serious Lady Business. And before you go, I would love for you to share where our listeners can follow up with you outside of this episode. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (37:06) Yeah, for sure. I am mostly on Instagram. So you can find me at my sage house. It's spelled H A U S and that's where I'm mostly hang out. I'm also on LinkedIn, Kelly Hubble, and you can drop me a DM, go take our free quiz. We also have a free download that a lot of people like called how to transition your nanny into a house manager. So for those people who might have a caregiver or an in-law or some babysitter or nanny, and then just kind of want to Leslie Youngblood (37:09) Mm-hmm. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (37:34) think about how could I maybe have them take on more of that household management responsibilities and the mental load off my plate, go get that too. So that's where you can find me. Leslie Youngblood (37:44) Fantastic and we'll also drop those links in the show notes as well for everybody. Thank you, thank you, thank you Kelly for joining us today. Just such fans of you and what you're doing and we can't wait to watch you continue to do incredible things for families moving forward with Sage Haus. Thank you, cheers. Kelly Hubbell (Sage Haus) (37:59) Thanks for having me. Leslie Youngblood (38:03) Thanks for tuning in to Serious Lady Business. If you loved this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe so you never miss a moment of the real, raw, and really wonderful sides of female entrepreneurship. And hey, please leave a review if you're feeling generous. It helps more amazing women find us and join the conversation. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at at Serious Lady Business and get all of the updates at SeriousLadyBusiness.com. Until next time, keep showing up, keep building, and keep being your seriously amazing self.