Meet Lisa Pache And Cali Bonham | Estate Managers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Pache And Cali Bonham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa Pache and Cali Bonham, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We started our company Tending le Castle because we noticed a huge deficit in the Denver/Boulder area. There were many services that helped working professionals save time but one was missing – Home/Estate Management. In L.A and NYC many professionals leverage the services of an Estate Manager (aka personal assistant) so they can relax after work.
Both of us share the same life experiences of juggling a career alongside the role of wife and mother. In the 1990’s, we were expected to be both a model employee and a partner that managed the household. Simultaneously, we are also expected to be the primary care givers, and teachers in raising our children. Over the years, there were times when we had help, and times when we didn’t. With the help of a House Manager, we were happier, and felt more peaceful, which in turn trickled down to the rest of the family. What an immense and positive difference it made!
We’re happy to see that things are starting to change, and household responsibilities are being divided more evenly. However, Coloradoans are a busy crew which means they’re always looking for ways to save time. Therefore, we were surprised that more people didn’t know about the services of an Estate Manager or House Manager. (This person is an extension of yourself – a Personal Executive Assistant that helps run your household, keeps it organized, manages the calendar, pays bills, and cares for your second home.) We wanted to bring this vital service, that increases quality of life, to our fellow Coloradoans. When people don’t have a To Do List eating away at their free time, they can focus on relaxing or pursuing their passions. That is why we started our company, Tending le Castle.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our mission at Tending le Castle is to enable busy professionals to manage their personal lives as efficiently as they do their careers. We offer personalized support for busy households by managing everything from large tasks, like organizing the home, coordinating projects and setting up comprehensive systems, to smaller tasks such as, creating weekly menus, grocery shopping, mailing returns and/or scheduling appointments. By allowing our clients to delegate their To Do Lists to our Estate Managers, we enable them to live more organized, peaceful, and fulfilling lives.

The concept of helping families manage their time, tasks, and properties isn’t new, although the titles have evolved. From Butler or Housekeeper to Family Assistant, House Manager, or Estate Manager, these roles have always involved trustworthy and efficient individuals who protect and manage the family’s interests. Both of us have benefited from the service of Home Management, and were surprised that most people here in Colorado didn’t know that it existed. Tending le Castle was founded because we recognized this gap, and wanted to foster healthier families. As working professionals and mothers, we experienced firsthand the challenges of balancing career, family, and a peaceful home.

What sets Tending Le Castle apart from the competition is that we offer fractional shares of Home Management and Personal Assistants. Until now, these luxury services were only available to a small portion of the community that needed assistance full time. Traditionally, a family would hire a recruiting firm to find a full time Estate Manager who, in-turn would work for the family 40 hrs/ week. Recruiting firms typically charge 10% of the candidate’s first year salary thus incurring a Finder’s fee close to $13,000. If, after a few months of working together, that Estate Manager didn’t work out, the process would start over again.
At TLC, we give our clients flexibility. We allow clients to choose service packages in increments of 10, 20, 30 or 40 hr/ week, depending on their needs. We also take great care in matching Estate Managers with a client’s specific needs. If an Estate Manager is not the right fit, we have the ability to replace that person, and the client isn’t out a Finder’s fee.

We are most excited about seeing this idea come to fruition, and helping more people regain their sanity! When we tell people that they can off-load all the mundane tasks that cut into their free time, they often respond, “I can hire a wife?!?” Which always garners a laugh, but the answer is still ‘Yes!’. Needless to say, the response from our community has been very positive which means we are growing, and always looking for additional team members.

We believe our success today can be attributed to a couple factors. One of the largest being our diverse backgrounds and our individual, entrepreneurial experiences. Both of us faced similar challenges in our careers, and were both perfectionists that felt undervalued by corporate America. Often, we created more efficient systems to help run the organizations we were a part of, but didn’t receive the recognition. Now we create efficiencies for our team and our clients.
Another factor that helped us: we are smart enough (and old enough) to know that ‘we don’t know everything’! Therefore, we often asked friends and family for help in their area of expertise. We were fortunate enough to have help with branding and web design while we often asked friends for feedback regarding potential services. You can definitely build a business by yourself but it’s easier and more fun if you include your ‘tribe’!

Starting a business is never easy but one huge advantage for us is that we have each other. Having a business partner that you can rely on is a game-changer! As many entrepreneurs know, you can often get lost in the work, and feel like there isn’t enough of you to go around. Having another person that sees your vision and can hold you accountable or provide back-up is indispensable! In a sense we are relying on each other like our clients rely on us.
As business owners, we are learning lessons every day and then sharing them with our team. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that communication and flexibility are key. No matter what your plan looks like, you have to be willing to pivot when speed bumps arise. The services we perform for our clients vary between households, and aren’t consistent day-to-day. As households grow, and a family’s lifestyle changes, House Managers have to be flexible and willing to change with it. With so much going on, good communication with our clients is imperative to our success. Ultimately, a House Manager’s goal is to be able to run our client’s lives without their direction, but when we first start, it’s important to ask questions, and keep notes. This ensures that tasks are completed on time and to the highest level.
Let Tending le Castle manage Life, so you can LIVE it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A week wouldn’t be long enough to see everything but we would try!

In Boulder: hiking Chautauqua, grabbing coffee at Alpine Modern, walking down Pearl street, going to Rosetta Hall, the Vintage Garage and catch a sunset dinner on Corrita’s patio, followed by some live music at the Junkyard Social

In Golden: breakfast at the Windy Saddle, hike around Red Rocks and visit the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, then visit Buffalo Bill’s grave and drive through to the see the live buffaloes at the continental divide overlook and have dinner at the Hungry Goat, in Morrison

In Denver: start at Union Station and the surrounding area for the history, then the Brown Palace for High Tea and the Cigar Bar, next a bike ride along the Cherry Creek trail, followed by a walking tour of the street art in RiNo and cool hangout spots like Nocturn, the Source & Dio Mio. Lastly, we would go to El Five, for the food & views!

If our guests were adventurous, then we’d also take them to skiing or hiking any of the 14ers.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to dedicate this Shoutout to our friends, family and very first clients that believed in our vision of expanding modern Estate Management to Colorado.

Website: https://tendinglecastle.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendinglecastle/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tendinglecastle/

Image Credits
Lisa Craig Photography