A guest post from Thaty Oliveira, 2022 INA International Nanny of the Year and founder of Raising Sisu
Some of the best stories in childcare do not come from agencies. They come from the caregivers who lived them.
Editor's note: Every so often, someone in our community does something that deserves a wider stage. Thaty Oliveira is one of ours: a placed Adventure Nanny, a member of the INA Board of Directors, and the 2022 INA International Nanny of the Year. When she told us that her Portuguese-language Newborn Care Specialist training program had just earned official approval from the Newborn Care Specialist Association, the first program of its kind to do so, we asked her to tell the story herself. What follows is entirely in her words. If you are a childcare professional with a story or an idea you would like to see on the Adventure Nannies blog, we would love to hear it. Send a pitch to marketing@adventurenannies.com.
Three Questions From My Dad
I was nine years old when I told my dad I wanted to move to the United States.
It was inexplicable, really. I was obsessed with America (I am pretty sure it was mostly thanks to Disney movies), and in my nine-year-old mind, I thought asking him was enough to make it happen. I was just a naive kid in Brazil with big dreams, I guess.
My dad, ever the practical father teaching his young daughter a life lesson, looked at me and asked three questions:
"Do you have money?"
"Do you speak English?"
"Then what do you have to do?"
He didn't crush my dream, but he grounded it in reality. He gave me a recipe. A formula. He showed me that if I wanted something this big, I had to be the one to build it.
So at 11 years old, I asked him for a job. When I earned my first $5, I insisted on going to the bank to open a savings account. The minimum deposit was $50, so my dad "loaned" me the remaining $45 to get my account started.
Then, about the same time, I started learning English. I actually registered myself without my parents knowing, but this is a blog post for another day!
For the next nine years, I worked and saved every single cent. Through my teenage years, my friends would get tired of hearing about me "going to live in the States." They would tell me so. I was told "enough already" quite a few times. But again, this dream of mine was uncrushable.
When I was 18, a friend brought a flyer from her university advertising the Au Pair program. I read the cost, looked at my savings account, and realized something unbelievable: I had almost the exact amount saved, down to the dollar. Nine years of working toward my own goal. The moment had finally arrived.
A Gente Dá um Jeito
I left my family in Brazil and landed in the U.S. alone: a solo immigrant with a suitcase, a big dream, and an unbreakable drive. My family is still in Brazil today, and though my dad passed away in 2008 at just 55, the foundation he gave me at that office desk stays with me every day.
Like so many immigrants who come to this country with the American Dream in their hearts, language barriers were never going to stop me. We don't wait for ideal conditions; we make things happen. In Brazil, we have a saying that is practically our national motto: "A gente dá um jeito." We will always find a way.
If that weren't true, you wouldn't see millions of incredibly successful professionals living and working across the U.S. without native English fluency. We know how to make communication happen. We read the room, we connect, and most importantly, we deliver.
That mindset of resourcefulness, dedication, and grit followed me through my entire childcare career, taking me from being an Au Pair to the INA's Nanny of the Year™ in 2022. From Lençóis Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil, to Boston, to crossing the country to Washington State, and eventually launching Raising Sisu.
The Talent Was Always There
Along the way, during my entire career, I looked around and saw a massive, untapped pool of brilliant caregivers, especially in the Portuguese-speaking community. These are individuals who already possess deep intuition, natural warmth, and an innate Sisu, that Finnish word that means extraordinary grit and resilience. A word that I have always been obsessed with, since the first time I came across it.
These caregivers have the talent and the drive to be world-class specialists. What they needed was an avenue that saw them, celebrated them, and gave them the specialized training to step into their full potential.
That is why I founded Raising Sisu and created our Newborn Care Specialist program.
A Historic Milestone for Our Industry
And today, we are celebrating a historic milestone that makes this dream even bigger: the Raising Sisu NCS training program has officially been approved by the Newborn Care Specialist Association (NCSA)!
This seal of approval isn't just a win for Raising Sisu. It is a monumental leap forward for our entire industry. It validates the immense talent within the Portuguese-speaking community, giving these caregivers the elite industry recognition they deserve. For families and agency partners, it means a guaranteed standard of excellence: access to specialists who hold top-tier, professional credentials alongside unmatched real-world resilience.
We didn't launch this program to lower standards; we built it to elevate talented professionals so they can be recognized and celebrated at the absolute highest level.
When agencies and families shift their perspective, they realize that non-native English speakers aren't stepping into a room with a disadvantage; they are bringing a high-value asset.
In childcare, multilingualism is a superpower! It offers children authentic, organic language immersion right from infancy, and in my experience, this is a benefit parents pay top dollar for in private education.
To give you just a glimpse (which, again, deserves its own full blog post): I once referred a Portuguese-speaking student with very limited English to a family who was open to seeing her true talent over a language barrier. Fast forward five years: she is still with that same family; they loved and valued her work so much that they sponsored her visa, and today she is pursuing her master's degree!
That is what happens when we look past traditional limits and see the real value sitting right in front of us.
It’s Time to Open Our Eyes
The opportunity for agencies and other stakeholders in our community today is simple but profound: make room to see, elevate, and place this talent.
When agencies and colleagues champion NCSA-approved, high-caliber caregivers who carry this kind of grit and cultural richness, you aren't just filling a placement. You are connecting families with specialists who bring deep emotional intelligence, accredited expertise, and an incredible gift of language into the home. And, in doing so, you are also elevating the community and industry as a whole.
I came to this country alone on a nine-year savings plan, a flyer, and a belief that there is always a way. The talent in our community is already here; the Sisu is within them, and the official stamp of approval is now in our hands. It's time our industry opens its eyes to celebrate it.
About Thaty Oliveira
Thaty Oliveira is a prominent leader and pillar in the private childcare industry, where her impact is both deep and broad. Born and raised in Brazil, she saved for nine years to move to the U.S. alone at 18, a solo journey that sparked her lifelong passion for resilience, goal-setting, and advocacy.
With over two decades of hands-on experience, Thaty serves on the Board of Directors for the International Nanny Association (INA) and was recognized as the 2022 INA International Nanny of the Year™. Her extensive academic background includes a B.S. in Early Childhood Education, two Master's degrees (an M.Ed. in ESL/Bilingual Education and an M.M. in Leadership in Human and Organizational Dynamics), a Harvard Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Leadership, along with dozens of additional certifications, diplomas, and industry accolades.
Thaty bridges elite early childhood science with real-world parenting support. Even as an entrepreneur, she prides herself on continuing to provide direct, hands-on care as a Professional Educator Nanny, Newborn Care Specialist, Doula, and Parent and Caregiver Educator. She is the creator, not merely a translator, of the first Portuguese-language NCS training to earn official approval from the Newborn Care Specialist Association (NCSA). Her curriculum is thoughtfully designed to honor different learning styles, educational backgrounds, and cultural origins, recognizing that brilliant caregivers never arrive as a blank canvas, but with a rich wealth of experience to share and build upon.
Today, through Raising Sisu's Professional Mastery Program for Newborn Care Specialists, Thaty bridges the gap between top-tier professional education and diverse care talent, turning innate resilience into recognized expertise, elevating Portuguese-speaking caregivers on the global stage, and reshaping how our industry sees, values, and celebrates exceptional talent.
If reading Thaty's story sparked an idea of your own, the Adventure Nannies blog is open to guest contributors from across the childcare community. Send your pitch to marketing@adventurenannies.com and tell us what you would want to write about.
