Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vicki Rawson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Vicki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

Home organization is seeing massive popularity right now thanks to shows like The Home Edit. It’s been growing steadily over the past decade with the rise of Pinterest and home organization blogs, but these shows have really pushed it to a new level. Organization projects, like overhauling closets and pantries, have increased to about 50% of my overall business.

Another trend that I love to see is our society letting go of the idea that you have to “do it all” without any help. For a long time it seemed there was a stigma against busy professionals, especially women, outsourcing tasks at home as if they should be able to do everything or risk looking incapable. Now we’re seeing more transparency about hiring help. I started my business to help busy people find more time for what they value most, and I’m so happy to see more and more people realize there’s no shame in not doing it all on their own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I grew up in the UK and moved to California in 2009 with my husband, son, and daughter. We were incredibly lucky to land in Encinitas and soon discovered that we did not want to leave! It really is such an amazing place to live and raise our kids.

I was lucky to be able to stay home with my kids when they were young, but during this time, I had watched families around me struggle to balance busy work and home lives. Whether a household of two working parents, a single parent, or a business owner, it’s stressful to juggle the demands of day-to-day life. Weekends become consumed by running errands, scheduling tasks, organizing projects, and a multitude of other to-dos. This is where the idea was born for North County Concierge. I wanted to start a business that would help overwhelmed parents and business owners be able to have more free time for their loved ones and themselves.

North County Concierge launched in September 2019. We provide personal assistant and home organizing services to busy professionals and families living in the North County San Diego area. We tackle their never-ending to-do lists, which allows them to have more time in their lives for what brings them joy and success, whether that is being with their friends and family or working on their business.

Our goal at North County Concierge is to create close working relationships with our clients built on trust, efficiency, and attention to detail. We’re not just an errand service. We work with our clients to find ways to improve their overall quality of life by helping them develop a better balance between their personal and professional responsibilities.

A typical session for one of our clients could include personal errands like dropping off dry cleaning, handling returns, shipping packages, and picking up groceries or shopping for gifts. We might also schedule a plumber, take the car for an oil change, or meet the cable repairman at the house while a client is at work.

We have a great list of vendor referrals on hand, so not only do we save our clients hours of time on research, we can also coordinate and manage all of those household projects when they can’t be at home.

We provide professional organizing services, which have been extremely popular lately! We can help our clients declutter and organize any room in their home from the closet to the garage. We can deal with taking away their donations and consignment items, as well as purchasing any storage and organizing items needed to complete the task. If a client is moving to a new house, we can assist with packing and unpacking and help coordinate movers, cleaners, and maintenance services.

We offer memberships that range from 4 to 20 hours per month and hourly packages that are a great fit for short-term projects or for those clients that want to try our services before signing up for a membership.

Some of our clients are small business owners that need help with certain tasks for their business but do not want or need to hire a permanent staff member. Our specialty is building trusted, connected relationships with our clients by providing the services that help them lead less stressful and more fulfilling lives.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Personal referrals have definitely helped me grow my business the most. When I first launched North County Concierge, the majority of my clients found me through word-of-mouth. I’ve attended networking events and worked to build an online presence and both have helped bring in new business, but I still get at least 60% of my clients from referrals. I take it as a great compliment that so many of my clients share my business with others. It’s confirmation that my current clients are happy with the work I’m doing for them.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Not long after I launched North County Concierge I joined a one-year course and coaching program called The Concierge Academy which was really valuable as I built my business. Unlike a lot of online business courses that are more general, this program is specific to the concierge industry. Not only did that make the content more relevant to my business, but the community involved is in the same industry so we were able to offer really beneficial feedback to one another. The owner Kelly Schaefer is also the author of the book “The Concierge Life”, her entrepreneurial journey was a great inspiration to me.
I am also currently a member of the Pro Organizer Bootcamp, a community for women building home organizing empires created by author, coach, and business owner Melisa Meral. Having the support and knowledge from a group of like-minded entrepreneurs is so valuable as you pivot and build your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.northcountyconcierge.com
• Instagram: @northcountyconcierge
• Facebook: @northcountyconcierge