From Montessori Teacher to Right Hand: How One French Assistant Won Over Miami’s Wealthiest Families
Guest
Laurence Wilhelm-Astorga
For the first time on the Luxury Staffing Podcast, Ben W hands the microphone to a candidate. Laurence is a French personal assistant and house manager in Miami who started out in finance for a French ministry, became a Montessori teacher, and grew into the right hand of wealthy families.
She calls herself the secret agent behind the scenes, and this episode explains exactly what that means.
- How a Montessori teacher turned French lessons and school runs into a full personal assistant career.
- What confidentiality looks like day to day, including why Laurence puts her own name, number, and address on everything the family needs.
- The habits that make principals say “how can I live without you”.
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Laurence walks through a job that has no typical day: teaching the kids French, managing the house during remodels, dealing with vendors, personal shopping, and reading a household well enough to know which flowers to buy without being asked.
She explains why families open their homes and hand over the keys from day one, and why observation matters more than instructions in the first few weeks.
The conversation also covers setting limits as a single mom, how luxury service has sped up over the last decade, and the European calm that American families quietly love.
Key Takeaways
- Families hand over their homes on day one. The background checks and reference checks done before you arrive carry that trust, so treat it as the most valuable thing you hold.
- A good assistant observes before acting. Laurence spends the first few weeks learning routines, moods, and how much each principal actually wants to talk during the day.
- Discretion means becoming the barrier. Laurence uses her own name, phone number, and address for everything so the family’s identity never reaches vendors or outsiders.
- Exceptional assistants think ahead, stay calm, and solve problems without involving the principal unless the house is on fire.
- An education background is a growing advantage. Wealthy families increasingly value Montessori training and language skills, and both can shape the whole role.
Full Transcript:
Transcript
A Candidate Takes the Microphone
Ben W
Welcome to the Luxury Staffing Podcast by Morgan & Mallet. We usually interview recruiters, luxury real estate agents, and the co-founders, so today we are changing it up and talking to a candidate. Laurence answered our newsletter request, and she joins us now. Welcome, Laurence. Could you give us your background and how you got into private household staffing?
Laurence
Thank you for having me, I am very honored. My background is a little unusual. I started in finance for a French ministry, then moved into communication, and I even spent two years as a flight attendant, which was a dream of mine. When I moved to Miami I discovered Montessori education and became a teacher. Working with families, I started to feel really good about making other people’s lives better, and my career drifted naturally toward helping private families.
Laurence
Parents began asking me for help beyond education, and without knowing it I became a personal and executive assistant on top of being a private educator. I really like the service industry. It makes me feel good about myself, being that secret agent behind the scenes. I do not think it is for everyone. You either have that little bug or you do not.
From the Classroom to the Right Hand
Ben W
So you were teaching Montessori for wealthy families, then started taking on personal assistant tasks in the background and evolved into the role. When did that start?
Laurence
It started a couple of years ago. I already had experience as an executive assistant working with senior executives in France. The personal assistant side developed naturally, part time at first, on top of developing Montessori curriculum. One day people asked me, why are you not doing this full time? When I do this work, it does not feel like going to work. When people say thank you, you feel trusted and appreciated. That is the best part for me.
What People Get Wrong About the Job
Ben W
What do people usually get wrong about being a personal assistant or household manager?
Laurence
People think we are just running around as servants for wealthy people. That is not right. We are part of the household. They trust us, we are the right hand. You are part of their family, they treat you well, with respect, and like an important piece of their daily life.
A Day With No Typical Day
Ben W
Could you give me an example of the tasks you did as a personal assistant?
Laurence
A little bit of everything, and every family is different. One family valued that I was French, so they asked me to speak to their children only in French, and the parents ended up learning too. There is school drop-off and pick-up, food shopping, personal shopping, returns. When they travel I take care of the house, so I can be the house manager too. During a remodel I dealt with all the vendors.
Laurence
A good assistant can guess and observe. They should not have to tell me. I observe a lot, so I know what my principals like from their attitude. I can tell this person loves flowers, and which kind, and bring them as a little gesture. I organize closets, and sometimes I cook. Because I am French they say, let’s have crepes. It is a little bit of everything.
From France to Miami
Ben W
How did you get from France to Miami?
Laurence
It was job related. I worked for the French government, took a communication position in Martinique, then moved to the foreign affairs ministry and arrived in Miami working for the Alliance Française in the communication field.
Laurence
My son was eighteen months old and studying at a Montessori school, and I fell in love with the method because it embraces independence and adapts to every child. The school asked me to teach French to the kids. I went on to create the first French-English bilingual Montessori classroom in Miami, which is my little baby and I am very proud of it. I also created my own educational company, I write books for children, and I do podcasts. Wealthy families appreciate someone with an education background, and I see it more and more.
Day One, They Open the House
Ben W
Is there anything that surprised you when you started working with wealthy families?
Laurence
The trust they put in you. There are background checks and reference checks, so they have an idea of who you are, but day one they open the house and you are part of the family. These families are very private, and they give you access to all of their life. When they travel I am alone in the house. It is a lot of trust to put in one person.
What Discretion Means Day to Day
Ben W
Your resume highlights confidentiality and discretion. What do those words mean on a day-to-day basis in a private household?
Laurence
My identity is the barrier. Everything I do for the family is in my name. I will never disclose the client’s identity or the children’s identity. No address. I give my own address, my own phone number, my own name to protect their privacy. If there is any issue with anything, it comes to me, never directly to the principal.
Observe First, Then Adapt
Ben W
You must have been in these positions a long time, putting roots down in the family.
Laurence
My last family relocated and I was not able to follow, but I still work as a contractor with some families I know through my educational background. It takes a few weeks to adjust to each other. Observing the household is very important work. Some principals like to talk to you during the day, some do not want to communicate at all. One principal did not want me to talk to her, and I was coming from a family where the principal talked all day, so you have to adjust.
Laurence
That is where the Montessori background is valuable, because you observe the child a lot. You come into a house, you observe the routine and the way they communicate, then you adapt to them. I am very adaptable, flexible, and resilient. My goal is to make them happy and make life easier, so trust has never been an issue for me.
Good Versus Exceptional
Ben W
Are there other personal qualities that separate a good assistant from an exceptional one?
Laurence
The personal assistant is the one who thinks ahead and plans, not the one who only deals with what is happening. Communication, adaptability, and staying calm. Whatever happens, find solutions and stay calm. If you can deal with what is going wrong without the principal knowing, do it. If the house is on fire, of course you let them know. Otherwise, you know the routine and what they like, so deal with it.
Balancing the Job as a Single Mom
Ben W
How were your weeks structured, and how did that work with your own children?
Laurence
Five days a week, with schedules, but you need to be flexible. I am a single mom with two children, so I had to set some rules. Constant early mornings do not work for me, though I can do one or two days. Evenings and weekends I have support, and travel is fine if it is organized in advance. It is not impossible, you just adapt.
The European Touch in a Faster World
Ben W
How has luxury service changed over the last ten years?
Laurence
Maybe it is technology, but people are more demanding and everything needs to be quicker and faster. It is paradoxical, because families like my European background, that ooh la la touch, the elegance, the calm manners of European luxury service. I am always calm in the house, even if I am running the moment I am out the door. When I explain how I work, demanding households naturally calm down a little. I bring that European vibe they like in the end, and with everything so fast now, it brings peace to their households.
Ben W
That is a great answer. Laurine, the co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, said she and Morgan wanted to bring French values to luxury service and spread them. Final question: what is the most rewarding part of your work?
How Can I Live Without You
Laurence
Accomplishing everything successfully, and the principal telling me, wow, how can I live without you? One day my principal listed all these qualities I have, and I looked at her and said, well, this is why you hired me. I do not call it a job because it is something I enjoy. I always go a little ahead of my tasks because I want them to be happy, and I do it with my heart. Sometimes an experience does not work out, because respect matters in every healthy household, but I always had the support of the agency to correct things.
Ben W
Laurence
Merci.