Queens take Kondo’s crown
YOU have probably heard of Marie Kondo and Mary Poppins, but what happens when the two combine their skills?
The answer is Queens of All Trades – the brainchild of Christelle Odendaal and her mum Hannelie Greyling.
It all started during the height of Covid-19 when Ms Odendaal, who had a career in recruitment at the time, found herself out of work, while her mum – a former teacher’s aide, was keen for a change.
“The idea came to us after we were speaking to family and friends who needed help at home, so we decided to combine our skills and create a business where we could help others,” Ms Odendaal said.
“We’ve found that people want a real, personable service, rather than going through a large company.”
Launching Queens of All Trades last month, the mother and daughter team offers just about every service you imagine for the home.
From house organisation and child minding, to dog walking, event management and administrative tasks.
As part of the services, the pair also offers assistance for elderly people who may require help with technology and daily tasks such as grocery shopping.
The duo said while they had started to receive bookings, it hadn’t been easy to get the word out while living in the small town of Warwick.
Currently servicing the Southern Downs, the mother and daughter travel to clients in Warwick, Stanthorpe, Allora, Killarney and Leyburn, with the intention to later include more areas including Toowoomba.
“Because it is a small town, people really do rely on word of mouth, but our current clients have started to refer us to others, so we’re getting there,” Ms Odendaal said.
“Most start-up businesses take at least six months to really develop, but once that happens we’ll be looking to expand our services to more parts of the region.”
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo took the world by storm when the show featured on Netflix in 2019, but Ms Odendaal believes there is another reason the service is pivotal.
She said with large numbers of people migrating from the city to smaller towns like Warwick, they found themselves struggling to fit all their belongings into smaller houses.
With more people returning to work after spending more time in isolation during Covid, it also means less time to focus on home tasks. Visit queensofalltrades.com.au.