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The Conversation: Maids to the rich and famous

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Maids to the rich and famous

15/11/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Maids to the rich and famous

Stephanie Land and Sara Vestin Rahmani on their lives working in rich people’s homes

Stephanie Land and Sara Vestin Rahmani worked for wealthy families in the USA and the UK. What they saw behind closed doors changed their lives.

Rich families around the world employ butlers and maids to look after their expensive properties. These houseworkers have access to every aspect of their employers’ lives: they get to know their habits and their deepest secrets. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two former maids who worked for wealthy families in the USA and the UK. 

Stephanie Land is the bestselling author of Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, a poignant memoir highlighting the plight of overworked and underpaid domestic workers in the USA. Her story has recently been turned into the successful Netflix series, Maid. 

When she was 19, Sara Vestin Rahmani moved from Sweden to London to work as an au pair for a rich family. She thought she would only stay for a year, but she quickly became embedded in the family’s life, and was exposed to a lifestyle she never imagined was possible. She is now the director of Bespoke Bureau and the British Butler Academy, a high-end recruitment and training agency of domestic and elite service staff. 

Producer:  Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Stephanie Land, credit Ashley Farr. (R) Sara Vestin Rahmani, credit Bespoke Bureau)

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