Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 195 She Wrote a Letter to the Owner… and Nothing Changed? (What This Reveals About Leadership)

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CBL EP 195 She Wrote a Letter to the Owner… and Nothing Changed? (What This Reveals About Leadership) · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, that hair.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I, if you guys can't see, Bob Ross back there has his own set of hair right now.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was out doing some errands and I was at a yard sale.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it's actually like a 1980s big hair band wig.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It actually it's black and it has frizzy bangs and it goes down to the middle of my back.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: My husband was like, that is so horrific.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, it's gonna make such a great Halloween costume.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do like a striped muscle shirt with maybe some bright red pants and some cuff boots or something.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'll figure something, you know.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: But for now, Bob Ross.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Bob Ross is wearing my wig for me.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually not what I came here for.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is Shani Miller with Cleaning Business Life, and I wanted to talk about Kylie Jenner.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you heard in the news lately, but Kylie Jenner herself has been sued by two, not one, but two separate housekeepers, housekeepers.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And what the story is, because I did a little digging, is Kylie Jenner's house, I guess, is a very large business operation, and they hired a third-party entity who hires these people in for the house.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And what is interesting about this case is that there is this house manager who is not a good manager of humans, it appears, and has caused two of her housekeepers to sue Kylie because she's ultimately responsible.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she's supposed to be the leader on this whole thing.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess there was some retaliation going on.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: So they actually initially suspended the house manager, and then when the house manager got back, there was going to be hell to be paid.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure that I say all the legal jargon first because I don't want to get in trouble because this is still in the process of the court system.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I did not dig in anything, I just based my information off of what is being seen on the internet right now.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like the Richard Conkin where I went to the actual court case for the state in the county of the state of Kentucky and I looked, right?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: So let me just put that out there.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want anyone going, you're giving misinformation.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So two housekeepers, same household, similar out the allegations against the house manager and Kylie Jenner about being blatantly ignorant of the whole situation is exactly the same.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a pattern, right?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: One says she wrote a letter directly to the owner asking for help, and things didn't get better.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's pretty bad when your employees, whether contracted or not, are reaching out to you saying giving you notes like, please help me.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: This person is being really mean and calling me names and teasing me.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, it was just really inappropriate behavior.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to make sure that I say this.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: These are still in the allegation stage.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So there hasn't been any formal charges pressed, but it is going through the court system, is my understanding.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't been able to find any document of that in the court system where this incident has happened.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no court rulings, and I'm not here to attack anyone, but we're here to talk about what business owners can learn from situations like this.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this is just like can you imagine the similarities of how sometimes clients treat other cleaning business owners or cleaning techs?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: It there's a lot of like parallels, so I thought this would make an interesting story.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: So two separate lawsuits filed within a very short window of time.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Claims include harassment, discrimination, labor violations, retaliation, criticism, mimicking, name-calling.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you name it, that it's been done according to the lawsuits.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: So owner, there's the owner, there's the house manager/slash supervisor, and there is the worker.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if, God forbid, this were to happen in real life in your situation, and management, it always trickles down from the top.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I always have to remind people: I'm like, if your employees are acting badly, this is a reflection of your management style.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Please do something about it.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the, and there's the manager layer too.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where things actually happen.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you, as the owner, your manager is maybe responsible for the day-to-day operations, and they're ultimately responsible for the cleaning tax, or in this case, the housekeepers.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a there's a chain of command.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So there's day-to-day control, task assignments, tone, and treatment.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I would like to believe that everyone will be fair and kind.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as we all know, housekeeping is not an easy task to do on a day-to-day basis.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's very physical.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And your managers don't just manage tasks, they're they're managing the culture.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: So in this particular house, it doesn't sound like the culture is very good.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're thinking of your own business, how is your company culture?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: I say this a lot to people who are like, well, I'm not getting this or this or this.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's your company culture like, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because it does, it does trickle down from the top.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: One housekeeper claims she wrote directly to the owner, one of the housekeepers, and positioned as a last attempt for help.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, she handed over a letter to Kylie.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Kylie didn't do anything about it, is my understanding.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is just an assumption, hasn't been documented, so I don't want anyone to go, oh, she didn't say that.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: When someone bypasses management and straight goes straight to the top, something has already broken.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she felt that she couldn't go to management because the management was the one who was ridiculing you.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you tons, tons of bad management experiences in every industry because I've held a lot of jobs, like really inappropriate things that were said or implied or done to me, and I'm just like, right?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you're providing a good company culture, and that if there's a problem, that you are made aware of it.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: What do they call those in the government whistleblowers?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So this is where your voice comes in.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I also had the thought a lot of a lot of people probably have, and you know, why did this person stay?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: These are long-term employees of Kylie Jenner's house.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so why would you want to stay in a situation like that?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I know there's bills, and I know you got kids to feed, and I know there's this and that, but if it's really horrific, it's like survivor instinct has to kick in, right?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if there's there's there is there's bills, financial pressure, there's fear and vulnerability.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, will there be backlash and a consequence?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've had that happen to me in management where I said something and there was a huge consequence for it, it happens.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and and you're keeping your fingers crossed, and you hope, you hope that things are gonna improve, but you're not quite sure.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And this all stems from guess what?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Lack of culture, lack of structure and support.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: So your cleaning tech should know that they should be able to go to management.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if management isn't able to resolve their issue, going to the owner.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: The conversation I had in the podcast the other day was you know, sometimes people just want to hear your voice.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: They really have no intention of carrying it any further than just saying, I just wanted you to hear what I had to say.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Even though you pay for a manager to do your thing for you, sometimes, and I guess maybe it's my small town mentality.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people just want to talk to the top.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure people know the path of how to get their problems resolved because we all know that it's an investment, each employee, right?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about 1099s, that's a whole different story.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're not employees ever.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the part there's the part that matters the most for cleaning business owners.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: If someone feels like writing a letter to the owner is their last option, think about that.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: This poor person probably was just like, I guess I'm gonna quit because there's nothing that's gonna be done.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm tired of being tormented.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine having to show up to work five, six days a week where someone doesn't like you and just makes your life miserable?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It just, you're like, I hate it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I hate it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like having a bad client, right?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I hate it.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how much you're paying me, I hate it.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, so your system has is has failed long before that moment.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Gotta switch my notes.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where small problems turn into huge legal ones.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if they'll settle out of court.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll kind of poke around to see if I can find if there's an actual court case.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I have to be logged and all that other process of going through the court system.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: But it just doesn't happen in celebrity homes, it happens in everyday cleaning businesses too.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you're doing things legally and that you're understanding.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, you hear me talk about it.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I probably mentioned it at least a hundred times on my soapbox, is especially when it comes to termination, never shame anyone.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Never.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's already awkward and awful, and that, you know, more than likely they know it's coming.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: But give people the opportunity to have as much dignity as possible when unpleasantness happens.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they just want to be heard.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, and and you can't outsource leadership.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: This person who is the house manager at Kylie Jenner's house doesn't sound like she had a lot of management skills.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe she sons sometimes people who get in management are like the leftovers from the summer help.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know how that goes, right?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: They just survive summer after summer after summer, and they've just been there so long.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: They kind of know how things work, but they have absolutely no people or management skills, and they're like, I've worked in many restaurants like that.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, this is just awful.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you cannot outsource leadership.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Distance doesn't always give you protection.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And managers must be verified.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And being a good manager means that you're supporting, you're on the bottom of the triangle and you're supporting the top.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're not, it's not the other way around where I am the manager and you are going to listen to what I have to say.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if you bring someone into the chaos, all you've done is duplicate the chaos.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I say that a lot, and it's true.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Your business runs on what you tolerate, not what you intend.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And this episode isn't about whether the allegations are true.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's up to the courts, but I will be following.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is about what happens when leadership gets too far removed from the people doing the work.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think Kylie Jenner really has an idea of what is going on in her household.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: It could be that she travels, it could be that she's relying on this house manager who doesn't sound like she's a good management material type person.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: There could be a lot of things ongoing on, but when you're not being informed of what's I mean, I Kylie Jenner must have been shocked, I'm assuming.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe she wasn't.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: We'll find out, right?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have a staff problem, you have a leadership visibility problem, and your systems are speaking, whether you are or not.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll stay tuned.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I'll get an update on what happens with the two housekeepers.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that's what I have to say about the Kylie Jenner and the the tale of two housekeepers.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll keep you guys posted.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't gotten the opportunity to check out the move out cleaning system, which is on my website, cleanfreaksuniversity.com.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's clean with a K.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Please do so.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's been totally revamped and updated.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it's Move Out Cleaning System.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: I got 20,000 of these bad boys underneath my belt, and I would like to think I've learned a thing or two.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, it has my infamous contract that has been used over 20,000 times and even been to court a couple of times.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I look forward to your questions.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to like and subscribe if you're watching on YouTube.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I love all of you.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.