Helping hands for harried South Enders

When British expatriate Eve Ward met neighbor Carlos Gonzalez in their Dwight Street building last November, "It was like love at first sight," Ward recalled with a smile. The two bonded over preparing for the Marathon last winter, running together in freezing weather to which new transplant Ward was unaccustomed, and meeting for strategy lunches every week. "All those running hours led to a lot of great conversation," Gonzalez recalled in an interview at Flour. While the pair took to each other quickly, their grueling training helped them to discover a shared drive, discipline and work ethic that led them to feel comfortable as a business team. Gonzalez observed, "To train for the marathon in the winter is a huge commitment. I think it was a big plus for us."

Their talks led to an idea, and the seeds were planted for South End Errands, a discreet and comprehensive personal-assistant service that launched in mid-June. "It's very interesting how we both met and realized the need for this service in the South End," Ward said. South End Errands offers both a monthly plan and individual appointments for services including house and pet-sitting, event coordination, household and office organizing, move and vacation planning and more. So far, they are pleased with the initial response. "It's greater than we expected. We thought it would be really quiet because of the 4th of July, but it's been really busy," Gonzalez observed.

Ward's and Gonzalez's backgrounds feature marked similarities as well as divergences. Gonzalez, who came to Boston from Puerto Rico in 1999, pursued a career in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry before partnering with Ward. Ward's career began in hotel management with the British-based Forte Hotel Group, followed by 16 years in risk management with Fidelity Worldwide Investments. Both worked in Asia, Gonzalez traveling to China as a senior quality compliance and external vendor auditor and Ward leading Fidelity's risk management team in Hong Kong after stints in India and Korea. Both come from an old-world tradition that envisions a high standard of customer service that anticipates each client's needs. "In Asia, everyone has a personal assistant," Ward said. "In the US, it seems when you have a personal assistant, the job starts here and ends there. In Asia, a personal assistant takes care of everything. I had an assistant who knew what needed to be done and that is what I was paying for. Someone said to me that having a bad personal assistant is worse than having none at all." Through regular meetings with South Ender monthly membership clients and consultations with Express-o per-service clients, Ward and Gonzalez help them identify their needs. In the initial meeting with one monthly client, Ward recalled, "They went into it wanting one thing, and after sitting down with them we found what they needed is something entirely different."

Both Ward and Gonzalez were in a state of flux when they met last fall: Ward had just gotten married, left her job in Hong Kong and moved to Boston with her wife, and Gonzalez had resigned from his position as well. "The company I had been working for was declining and they offered voluntary leave with a severance, so I consulted with my partner and he was very supportive. The timing was interesting; [Eve] moving in and me leaving the field. It was perfect," he mused. Ward continued, "We both love the South End and I love the sense of community here. We talked endlessly about being community-led. We were brainstorming and Carlos said, 'What business could we have so that we could stay in the South End?' South End Errands was born that evening." The idea of a personal assistance service was partly inspired by Ward's experience as well as a discovery she made while awaiting her work authorization. "I can't stand to be idle. I need to be busy. During my down time when I wasn't able to work, I sorted my wife's paperwork and I loved every minute of it. I get excited when I see a pile of papers organized," she recalled with enthusiasm.

Gonzalez and Ward are working to build a client base and to forge relationships with local businesses. The pair admit that promotion is not their strongest suit, but hope to build a following through networking and word of mouth. Eventually, the duo plan to have socials at which clients can meet each other. "We've had a very positive response to that idea," Ward said. To acquaint themselves with area businesses, the two walk around the neighborhood every day with Gonzalez's black Lab, the company's mascot. Gonzalez said, "We went to the MFA summer party, and we network a lot. I think the fact that we both live in the South End and people see us together so much makes people feel good about it. They can ask questions. We don't want to shove our business down people's throat; it needs to marinate, they need to think about it for a while."

Recognizing that people have different needs and schedules, Ward said, "It is affordable and flexible. People don't need to use all the hours in the same month. We don't put any restrictions on that. There's not a lot of pressure." Ward and Gonzalez do, however, put pressure on themselves. "We're working more than we should be because we are starting out. We worry a lot," Ward remarked, recounting an episode reflecting the team's commitment to customer service. "We were house-sitting for a week and taking care of strawberries on someone's rooftop deck. We read a lot about strawberries. This chap [Gonzalez] is a wizard with plants." She added, "Carlos messaged me at 3:00 AM one night worrying about the strawberries."

Starting a new business is a risky proposition, and both Ward and Gonzalez are grateful that their partners are in their corner. "Supportive partners are very important. We've been driving them crazy and bouncing ideas off them because they are both very busy. My wife is a lawyer and Greg (Gonzalez's partner) is a lawyer We tried the model out on them for a month before we launched," Ward said. Taking a reference from his days in the pharmaceutical industry, Gonzalez quipped, "It was like a clinical trial." Ward added, "All the stars were aligned. The biggest take away in the first month has been talking to people and finding out what they want. The one key word that I've heard time and again is 'overwhelmed'. We love to do the work that people find overwhelming. You are buying trust and that needs to be earned."