百花视频 Featured in The New York Times
百花视频’s founder and CEO,聽Anita Rogers, as well as聽Kristen Reyes, BAHS’ Senior Recruiter & Estate Management Consultant, and聽Katherine Patterson, BAHS’ Senior Placement Specialist, were recently interviewed by聽The New York Times聽for during COVID-19.
Excerpts below –
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Mary Poppins Returns! Some Modern Families Seek a Governess
Whom better suited to dispatch briskly with the demands of coronavirus-era child care?
by Ruth La Ferla. October 8, 2020
In her work as an estate manager,聽Kristen Reyes聽often finds herself fielding client requests for a special kind of child minder. 鈥淐allers will say to me, 鈥楰risten, I need a modern Mary Poppins.鈥� Everyone knows what that means.鈥�
It refers, Ms. Reyes went on to explain, to that old-fashioned paragon of patience, good cheer and decorum otherwise known as a governess. And, yes, she 鈥� most always a she 鈥� is back, a plucky hybrid of tutor and life coach in rising demand among affluent families scrambling to educate their offspring in the midst of a pandemic.
School shutdowns and social limitations have lent their search a particular urgency. 鈥淔or the past six or eight weeks we鈥檝e been slammed with educator and governess requests, from all over the country,鈥� said聽Anita Rogers, the founder and chief executive of British American Household, a domestic staffing agency.
Orders began doubling as families girded for a fall semester and the rigors of remote learning, Ms. Rogers said: 鈥淒uring the pandemic, we鈥檝e done very well.鈥�
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The contemporary governess may work in a formal household, staffed with drivers, cooks, housekeepers and the like. But unlike a conventional nanny she is expected to provide a high-end version of home-schooling.
As often as not the job calls for a fancy pedigree that may include an advanced degree from an Ivy institution, a facility with languages, and manners that rival those of a marquise.
But the position has been democratized to some degree. 鈥滻t鈥檚 no longer exclusive to high-net-worth families,鈥� Ms. Reyes said. During a health crisis that shows no signs of abating, two- career families will seek out a governess to function as a proxy parent to their toddlers or teenagers.
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Ideally these days, the governess commands respect as a highly accomplished worker in a rigorously demanding job. 鈥淪he is not just a stand-in for a fancy nanny, though nanny duties may be part of the job,鈥� said聽Katherine Patterson, a placement specialist who worked as a governess early in her career.
鈥淪he is responsible for the child鈥檚 safety and welfare,鈥� Ms. Patterson said. 鈥淏ut the role also dovetails with that of a teacher, an increasingly common scenario as the number of parents聽home-schooling their children聽continues to rise.鈥�
Her position is nuanced, extending from a child鈥檚 education to that child鈥檚 social and emotional progress. No surprise, then, Ms. Reyes pointed out, that families now are requesting a background in child psychology or child development.
In this currently unstable climate, 鈥渒ids have a lot more to learn about life at a younger age,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 governess can give a 5-year-old an outlet to talk about why they can鈥檛 see their friend or their grandparent. With Covid impacting everything, the governess is a kind of mini-therapist.鈥�
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Being a governess presupposes a very atypical work environment. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a plethora of dos and don鈥檛s that just wouldn鈥檛 apply to a corporate workplace,鈥� Ms. Patterson said. She declined to describe those rules. 鈥淭hat,鈥� she said elliptically, 鈥渋s for another day.鈥�
Find additional articles about BAHS in the press here.