Jason Balla

I had the most fortunate opportunity to attend Mr. Rick Fink’s Butler-Valet School at Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire in June of 2018.

I first visited the school in April of 2018 to audit for the first day of the April course to see if I felt it would be something of benefit to me as I was planning on transitioning into a career in household/estate management. I had had several years of experience in project management and hospitality but felt that a hands-on course in the finer points of household management from a butler’s point of view might give me a solid grounding in the kind of detailed work required in high net worth households.

The two week course in June flew by and I was so lucky to have had Mr. Fink all to myself the entire time which allowed us to really fine-tune some of my existing skills, experience and knowledge. Every day at Ditchley Park was a delight and apart from much time in the ‘classroom’ we even managed to find time to discuss training and the profession over an occasional pub lunch or a walk around the estate.

I arrived at Ditchley on June 11th 2018 with a little hesitation and a lot of questions, and I left two weeks later with a lot more confidence, an expanded knowledge, refined skills and a new friend and mentor.

Having such access to the breadth of knowledge and experience Mr. Fink possesses was invaluable.

Thank you Rick, you’re one-in-a-million.

Jason Balla.