I have done a few private full day tours in different countries and this tour with Scarlett did not disappoint! Because of the excellent tripadvisor reviews, I emailed her a few months in advance to see if she was available, she was quick to reply and enthusiastic about offering me the experience I was looking for.
I told her that I wasn't looking for a "highlights" tour, rather a way to see the city from a local's perspective and how the neighborhoods had changed. We did most of our exploring by foot, but also took a few taxis and the metro a couple of times. Scarlett was very flexible and open to showing your whatever you'd like to see e.g. we didn't go to the bund :)
Generally, I like to support women owned businesses and hardworking entrepreneurs--Scarlett is a great example of both. She takes her business (just she and her friend) very seriously and aims to please every client and their unique likes/dislikes. She spends her days off learning more about the city and creating a repository of things that travelers may enjoy. For example, she told me about a private garden that if the owner is home, she'd let us walk around--that sounded like fun to me, so Scarlett gave her a call but she wasn't home at the moment so we skipped that activity. Regardless, that's exactly the type of guide that you want--someone who "gets" you and helps customize the day adhoc with things that you'd like.
When we ended the day, I told her that I'd like to get a foot massage somewhere cheap/local that's walking distance to my hotel. She looked on China's version of yelp, saw that I place was offering a discount if you paid online, so she just called the place to ask if they would honor the cheaper rate if we just came in, they said yes. The massage was a blind massage (meaning, the masseuse was blind) and located on the ground floor of a very residential apartment building. Scarlett walked me over there and explained exactly what I wanted and then she left for the day. This is exactly what I wanted and couldn't have done it without her.
Overall, my day with Scarlett was perfect and I would highly recommend her!