Zhou Jie, General Manager of Red Vest Group Co., Ltd., in north China's Shanxi Province, is a rising star in the domestic-service industry. For example? At just 34 years of age, she holds multiple identities: Vice President of Shanxi Domestic Service Association, company manager, and domestic-service trainer. She was named a National Model Worker in April 2025. A year earlier, she was named a National Most Beautiful Domestic-Service Worker.
After she graduated from nursing school, in July 2013, Zhou stood at a crossroads. But unlike most of her classmates, who chose to work in hospitals or for medical enterprises, Zhou chose to enter the domestic service industry. Why? Red Vest Group was established by her parents. Zhou had watched as her parents' business weathered storms, and, as the only child, and as her parents were aging, she wanted to take over the business, so her parents could step back and relax. Also, her nursing background gave her a profound understanding of the value of "serving the people." She longed to apply her professional knowledge to a broader service field, to help more people in need.
Zhou began her domestic-service career as a cleaner. Initially, the hardship of cleaning — scrubbing windows, mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms — was huge for her. However, Zhou showed resilience and perseverance. She learned from veteran workers, she kept an open mind, and she studied, to learn various skills, in her spare time. Within a few years, she had mastered more than 10 domestic-service skills, and she had evolved from an industry outsider to a qualified worker.
Setting Standards
Zhou learned fairly quickly that one cannot rely solely on enthusiasm, care and love if he/she wants to deliver quality domestic services. To achieve sustainable and high-quality development, Zhou realized a scientific and unified standard system had to be established. She asked herself, "How can each worker deliver professional services?" She also asked herself, "How can I ensure each worker follows good examples in providing services?"
She decided "standardization" was the answer to her questions. Zhou systematically sorted out the technical essentials and key service points she had accumulated from her own experiences. She gradually developed a standard training system for domestic services, and her system covered service processes, operation norms and quality evaluation.
The results of her efforts have been clear. At Red Vest Group, domestic-service workers wear unified red vests, and they carry tool kits, with seven colored rags; for example, green, for the kitchen, blue, for the bathroom and orange, for the bedroom. This classification is a microcosm of Zhou's standardized management. In 2020, the Zhou Jie Model Worker Innovation Studio was established. The studio soon became the core engine of developing standards for domestic services. To date, the team has formulated 262 standards, of various types, including 197 standards for service companies.
Zhou pays special attention to providing employment assistance to people in less developed regions. During the past few years, she has led a team in providing domestic-service-skills training to people in rural China. Her company has grown from roughly 100 employees to a staff of thousands, and its business network covers 11 cities in Shanxi. The company has offered more than 300 skills-improvement-training sessions to help tens of thousands of rural laborers, especially women, find employment. The company has trained more than 3,000 people for the "Lüliang Mountains Caregivers" brand, and those training sessions have helped the brand go national.
Promising Future
In 2025, Zhou's company was named a National March 8th Red-Banner Collective. In 2019, she was named a Shanxi Provincial March 8th Red-Banner Holder. Zhou says recognition and encouragement from the local women's federation has greatly stimulated her employees' pride in the profession, and their confidence in the industry's future development.
Zhou believes demand for high-quality, diversified and professional domestic services will continue to boom, especially given the nation's aging population, implementation of the three-child policy, and improvements in people's living standards. However, Zhou says the industry must attract more young people if it is going to continue advancing and changing with the times. "We need more young people, like me back then, who are willing to join with love, patience and professional spirit. Only when more talents enter this industry, will we continue to promote its standardized development, and meet the increasingly high-end needs of society," Zhou says.
Zhou's story proves there is no distinction between occupations. As long as one has enthusiasm and stays focused on the job, he/she will make outstanding progress at work, exert his/her talents in any industry, and make contributions to society.
Photos from Interviewee
(Women of China English Monthly March 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
