We never imagined the strange circumstances that would surround our eighth birthday. Our team of 11 is spread across the country, and a few of them have already celebrated birthdays this spring from quarantine. While we miss each other and are all dealing with the current challenges created by COVID-19 in different ways, we wanted to take this special day, even if we aren’t celebrating together, to look back on some of the accomplishments from the past year and the moments that brought us closer together and helped to define us.
Adventure Nannies On Air
In August, we launched ‘Adventure Nannies On Air’, a podcast designed to provide a peek into the life of our founder Brandy’s adventures with her family and nanny Meaghan as they joined the Lumineers on tour for most of the fall and have discussed a wide range of topics from how to respond to inappropriate interview questions, the hidden side of six-figure jobs, negotiating tips, helicopter crashes, homeschooling tips, and more with our CEO Shenandoah. The podcast already has over 7,000 downloads and has launched some wonderful, thought-provoking conversations with candidates and families alike.
Kith + Kin
In December, we decided to take it to the next level by joining forces with Kith + Kin and their founder Christa. Kith + Kin was an NYC-based nanny agency and we are elated to have Christa as a member of the Adventure Nannies team, acting as a placement manager for families based in New York and across the country for their nanny and private educator searches. As a former nanny, teacher, Montessori aide, and more recently business owner, Christa has brought a new depth of knowledge and compassion to our team. We have loved getting to know candidates and families who Kith + Kin introduced to us earlier this year and look forward to continuing to work with them as New York begins to heal and re-open.
Refining Our Private Educator Services
When COVID-19 initially hit the US in full force, we gave the families we were working with the option to pause their searches until safer and more stable times were ahead. We feel so fortunate that we were able to keep our whole staff working throughout the pandemic, and were able to re-focus our team’s energy towards raising the caliber of our private educator searches to new heights. We’ve launched amazing partnerships with education companies that will propel our families and candidates to success this fall with teacher training, curriculum assistance, and more resources for first-time homeschool teachers than ever before! We’re now able to guide families across the country towards understanding the homeschooling and core curriculum requirements in their home states as they weigh their options for the school environment that makes the most sense for their families in the fall and are recruiting educators from a wider range of referrals than ever before.
Industry Recognition And Awards
In October, the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies honored us with two of the highest achievements that can be awarded to a nanny agency – the APNA Excellence Award and the APNA Innovation Award. We also had the privilege this year of hosting our online International Nanny Training Day event (sponsored by Nannypalooza) for the third year in a row to over 100 live attendees.
A More Streamlined Application Process
This spring, we launched a new, more streamlined application process with the help of some new technology to make our application and vetting process more streamlined and easier than ever. Now when applying for positions, candidates do not have to create an account with a password – they can simply apply with their email address, upload the most current version of their resume, and answer a series of job-specific questions to help us ascertain if the job will be a good match for their skill sets and goals for their next position. With more candidates applying than ever before and a sea of new positions, we implemented this new process, over a year in the making, just in time for the country beginning to re-open and more families and candidates than ever seeking our help!
The Launch Of Nanny Relief Fund
This spring, our CEO Shenandoah and four other industry leaders (Sue Downey of Nannypalooza, Rachael L. Lubin, a professional nanny and board member for the International Nanny Association, Austin MacFarlane of My Girl Friday, and Laura Chandra of Boston Nanny Centre) realized early on that COVID-19 would have devastating impacts on nannies across the country. Within a few weeks, they managed to fully set up a non-profit, Nanny Relief Fund, and are already dispersing their first round of donations to nannies in times of need. Adventure Nannies donated the funds from our iNNTD event and plan on continuing to contribute to this extremely important and timely cause for the foreseeable future. To learn more about the organization and how you can get involved, visit nannyrelieffund.org.
Every year since the launch of Adventure Nannies has been chock-full of fresh opportunities and challenges, and this year is certainly no exception! We are so grateful and proud of our community and the families and candidates who put their trust in us every day. While no one is certain what the next few weeks and months look like, we will navigate them together and become stronger, both individually and collectively, as a result. Thank you for eight beautiful years, and here’s to many more!