Kimberly Bartlett and Tess Dean are streamlining household management.
In the past 15 years, Kimberly Bartlett and Tess Dean have collectively owned seven homes in Buckhead. They’re not real estate developers—just busy moms who like to move around. Dean, a former software executive, and Bartlett, once a television journalist, left the 9-to-5 after having children yet found themselves busier than ever. Between them, they have six kids, two husbands and four pets, and are constantly moving and renovating. So it was important to have a network of trusted specialists, from painters to plumbers, as well as babysitters and dog walkers, Dean says.
“We were running our households and felt so disorganized,” Bartlett says. “We knew there had to be a better way to share information and use pooled resources as the heads of household.”
Between shuttling their children to activities and trying to squeeze in a workout, the pair of friends came up with a solution. Enter Stash, an iPhone app for finding, storing and sharing contacts—everything from tree trimmers and pediatric dentists to Pilates instructors. The app has 550 users and is growing.
How did you get Stash off the ground?
KB: We participated in an incubator at Georgia Tech in 2021 to flush out our idea and came out with a prototype. We ran it with 30 busy Buckhead moms. They became each other’s trusted network. We turned a text chain into an actual business and app.
Why should someone use Stash when they can go on Nextdoor or Facebook for recommendations?
KB: On Facebook Neighborhoods and Nextdoor, you can ask people whom they recommend, but you’ve never met them, so who is to say you have similar taste? On Stash, your trusted network is friends and friends of friends, not just people in your ZIP code. How does Stash help with home improvement projects? KB: We have 675 recommendations in the Home section. You can see how many people you know who have used the same contractor. If you don’t like someone, you can UnStash them, and they’ll no longer be linked to you, and you can write a note detailing your experience.
How do you find time to work on Stash while managing your own households?
KB: We’re constantly on the go and must be efficient. This morning, we did strength training with a trainer for 30 minutes while discussing our plans for the day. We can take a walk with the dogs and still talk about work. We built this business in the carpool line. We’re the most frequent users of our own app.
What’s next for Stash?
KB: We’re launching a Groups section so you can create a private neighborhood group or group of whomever you are normally on text chains with. You can store contacts together and cross reference them as a group. We’d like to expand out of Atlanta and break into Android in the next year.
STASH
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@stashapp1
PHOTO: Joann Vitelli
