A version of the following article appeared in the July 31, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Busy Charlotte families are hiring ‘house managers’ to handle errands, get organized and shoulder the never-ending mental load
Lauren Bell, owner of Charlotte Lifestyle Management Co., has a team of eight house managers. (Photo by Savbrown Photography.)
by Carroll Walton
Like countless women, Lauren McCrory is a busy working mother. She has a demanding full-time job as a preschool director at First Presbyterian Church, while raising two elementary school-aged sons of her own. Her husband, Wilson, travels a lot for work and when he’s in town is often juggling client meetings.
It’s a challenge to find the time, energy and capacity to do things like drop off dry cleaning, schedule appointments and wait for a repairman. So McCrory hired a substitute teacher, Carla, to become her part-time house manager.
“We live in a house from the 1940s, and it's really helpful to have someone who can troubleshoot different issues and then execute them from beginning to end,” McCrory said.
Carla has had their generator serviced, the front door painted and once put together a scooter for McCrory to roll around on after foot surgery.
“She’s really handy, much more than Wilson and I are,” McCrory said. “... She's like Mary Poppins. She's very warm and cheerful and friendly and active.”
Unlike Mary Poppins, though, she’s not there for child care, unless it’s an occasional run to a follow-up orthodontist appointment. She’s not a housekeeper, either, though she doesn’t mind unloading the dishwasher if she notices it needs it.
Carla is one of a growing number of people for hire around Charlotte known as house managers. Busy professionals and parents are increasingly hiring them to do the invisible stuff, everything from the time-sucking tasks around the house that often get taken for granted to shouldering the mental load of coordinating hectic schedules.
While there have always been people hired to help in different capacities at houses of people who can afford outside assistance, today’s house managers say their responsibilities are different from those of nannies or maids.
“It’s an extra spouse for your house,” says Lauren Bell, owner of Charlotte Lifestyle Management Co., which employs a team of eight house managers and counting. “Chaos coordinators.”
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