Finding the right childcare option is one of the biggest decisions parents face.

Whether you’re juggling a career, running a business, or navigating a life transition, ensuring your child receives quality care is a top priority.

But how do you know what’s best for your family—hiring a nanny, enrolling in daycare, or exploring other alternatives?

In this episode of the Money Boss Parent Podcast, I sit down with Brynn Ungerleider, a seasoned childcare expert with over 20 years of experience in childcare, household management, and nanny placement. Brynn shares her insider knowledge on how to choose the right childcare, the costs involved, and how her agency helps parents find trusted, high-quality nannies.

If you’re stuck at trying to decide between daycare, hiring a nanny, or exploring part-time options, this episode will help you make an informed decision that fits your family’s needs and childcare budget.

Anna's Takeaways:

• Choosing the Right Child Care Option (00:00)
• Bryn's Career Journey and Industry Insights (02:37)
• Common Child Care Options and Their Benefits (05:53)
• Cost Considerations and Financial Planning (11:06)
• Vetting and Hiring Process for Nannies (13:05)
• Part-Time Nannies and Nanny Shares (36:15)
• Transportation and Employment Setup (36:30)
• Benefits and Compensation for Nannies (38:29)
• Household Managers and Their Role (41:20)
• Au Pairs and Live-In Nannies (44:37)

About Brynn Ungerleider

I began babysitting to afford CDs, but it quickly grew into a 20+ year career in nannying and household management. I discovered that nannying goes beyond care; it’s about enriching lives, coaching children, and supporting families through life’s ups and downs. My purpose has always been helping others, from my first babysitting gig to working with families nationwide. With over two decades of experience, I started this agency to support career-driven mothers or those navigating divorce. Someday, I hope the love and support I’ve given will come full circle when I juggle my own motherhood and career.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

Money Boss Parents! Welcome to Anna's Money Boss Parent podcast, your go-to resource for mastering money management while raising a family. Join me as we explore practical tips, expert insights, and inspiring stories to help you achieve financial success and create a brighter future for your loved ones. 

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show to support our mission of empowering parents like you to take charge of their finances and build a prosperous life for their families. Let's thrive together on this incredible journey!

FREE GUIDE- Kid Money Boss: School isn’t teaching my son about Money. It’s up to us Parents. Here are 9 tools I am using to team my son, everything I never learned as a kid.

Guest websites:

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram

Welcome to the finding boss parent podcast. I am Anna Sergunina, your host, and today we're tackling a big decision that many parents face, which is choosing the right child care option for their family, whether you managing a busy business or a career or going through a life changes, finding the child care option solutions is very essential. My guest today is Brynn Ungerleider leader, a seasoned child care expert with over 20 years of experience in learning in household management, she has transformed her passion for supporting families into a very successful agency that helps parents nationwide. In this episode, we'll explore everything from how Brynn vets her nannies to comparing the cost and benefits of hiring a nanny versus using a daycare. If you're unsure which childcare option is the best fit for your family, this episode will give you some valuable insights. So let's dive in. Hi Brynn, welcome to the show. I'm really excited to have you here today. Thank

you. I am so excited to be here, and thank you for extending the invite for me to join you.

Yeah, so Okay, today we're, I think, exploring one of the most important topics and decisions parents have to make, and that is how to make a really good decision about what child care solutions are there, because there's lots of options. And having haven't been there myself, and having clients who've gone through that, going through that, it is the hardest decision to make, especially when you're doing it first time, like for your first child, yes, yes, absolutely.

And you want to make sure you're making the best decision. And you really won't know until you make the decision and you go through it, right?

Yes, yes. So, so yeah. So wherever you are on that decision spectrum, it's the decision is going to have to be made. So we're here to talk about how you can do that and what are your options. So, Brent, tell us a little bit about your background. I know you mentioned that you started babysitting because you wanted to buy CDs. So this is like, going back before, before the internet. I loved CDs. I used to have a ton of them too, yes.

So you get it, yes. Definitely aged myself by, you know, starting my bio, my bio with that information, but it's true, I couldn't believe that parents were paying me to go play with their children, and I was given money, and I would go to the mall with my family, and especially my dad would take me, and I would go buy the latest CDs, and we would rock out on the way home, and I just was like, Oh my gosh, I gotta babysit more. I gotta go. This is a gold mine, and, you know, I got to eat macaroni and cheese, and got to play, and people would pay me for it, and it really morphed into so much more than that, and I truly believe that the universe conspired to have me helping families all across this country through the people I've helped as a professional nanny and household manager for over 20 years, it turned into a full blown career for me, and it's been sensational every step of the way that's that's had its peaks and its valleys, like every career does, but the end result is always being able to help parents and their children is just so rewarding.

Yes, I love that. So talk about it. As far as I know, there isn't a specific, like a career, not a career track, but like a specific set of the you know, educational steps you take to become a nanny, right? Because, like you said, you started it because it was fun and you made extra cash aside. So, like, how do you like, how do you go through something like that to get to where you are today, where you have an agency that serves families across the US? And then, you know, future expansions are in the in the works. Like, I'm just, I'm just curious. This is all like that entrepreneurial journey, everyone?

Yes, it's a great, great question. I didn't really think about any kind of formal training other than CPR certification, not because I was being asked to do that by parents, but more or less like, oh my gosh, what if there's an emergency and I need to perform CPR because, you know, I am around these children all throughout the day, especially while their parents are at work. And what if something happens? Something happens that's on me, and I think that it's it's become quite an industry for those that are not aware. There are nannies all over our country and the world that are really diving deep into credentials. I see a lot of nurses that are turning toward this industry as night nurses, because they actually are are having better pay. I see a lot of teachers, especially early childhood teachers, elementary teachers, that are turning toward this profession because they can do a little bit more of that teaching aspect that they love, while having a little bit more one on one time with children and really enriching their lives through play and activities. And the pay is really, really good. I mean, a lot of teachers are transitioning, like I said to this industry, for that reason, because it actually can pay better than being a teacher.

I you know, I very much admire that. And especially like you mentioned, like nurses, I'm like, I didn't even know if something like that exists. Yes. I was like, you can send somebody to my house. I can. Sleep. I was like, why? Before, it was

amazing. Yes, what I learned about I know it's such an amazing option for so many moms out there. I know for me, when that day comes, when I get to become a mom, I would be so happy to hire a night nurse, because I don't do well without my sleep. And I think that a lot of parents are suffering out there because they're on such a little sleep, and even just paying for somebody to come in a night or two a week to just alleviate some of that stress and care for your infant. And these are people that are, you know, this is their specialty. You know, they have a nursing background. They deal with infants. Many of them come from delivery rooms and just want to kind of change up their routine. And it's like it's a win win for both parties. You're giving back some time, some space, some sleep, and the ability to reset, and they are happy to take care of your newborn during the middle of the night. Yeah,

no, I love that. So let's talk a little bit about the process, or maybe before the process, let's kind of like lay out what are like the most common options. For those who don't know, I think it's pretty obvious. Like, okay, so you can hire nanny. There is the daycare option, right? And we're talking about really small children, children, like infants, and then, right there, you go to preschool, and then, you know, sure, kindergarten, do I have? There?

You have that, you have that, correct? There are a lot of options when it comes to caring for your children, and I think it really just fit. It has to come down to what your family is in need of. And a lot of people kind of move through that space looking at their finances, and a lot of people move through that space wanting to do what's best for their children. And sometimes those two can line up, sometimes they don't. Every family is so different. Every child is so different. Some children really thrive in a daycare or that kind of atmosphere, while other children really don't do well in those situations. And some families really love the daycare option, while others really don't like having their children come home sick every other week. It's something that is a little bit more prevalent when you send your children to daycare, which there's nothing wrong with it. There are some really great daycare options in this country. There are also some not so great daycare options in this country. So, you know it, it's situational, everything that I kind of, you know, what I've learned in my experience over the last, you know, 20 plus years, is that full time nannies are probably the best option because they're consistent. They become a member of your family. You can, you know, they're reliable, they're there for you. They're flexible with the daycare you're dropping off at a certain time. You're picking up at a certain time. A lot of doctors, nurses, lawyers that I've worked with need that flexibility in their schedule to help with their children. They can't just, okay, I need to drop my child off by 8am a daycare. What if, you know, they get called in on a, you know, I've worked for an EMT, you know, what if she gets called in? I need to be at the house at 6am that kind of deal, so a nanny can offer that kind of level of care that daycares aren't able to really do. And you know, you can also do a part time nanny. So, you know, I've also worked with children that are in school, and I would go pick them up from school because their parents were at work, and I would take them home, and I would handle the transitional activities after after school. So homework, unloading the lunch boxes, preparing them for the next day, packing their backpacks for the next day. Sometimes that included dinner prep, running errands. If the children were at school and the parents wanted me to come in earlier and I could get those extra hours, I would go do dry cleaning, grocery shopping. I would do anything, catch up on the laundry. You know, all the things that I contributed throughout my career were all for the end goal, which was for the parents to come home the house, be tidied, dinner, be ready, or on the stove, or whatever part of that process, so the parents could just take away their day and be present with their children.

I like that, and I think what would be helpful for families to think about, because, like I said, there's lots of options, and everyone has different needs, is not to make this decision from just purely what it costs. Yes, right? We tend to do that. I actually was curious, because, you know, I'm sure different parts of the country have different costs. I had a client. This is, like, just real life story. She She's her first time. She lives in the DC, Virginia area, and she started looking at what her options will be. She's due next, next, early next year. She was like, Oh, my God, I was looking at the cost of, you know, take care of nannies. And she said something like, in like, four to $5,000 a month for a nanny. And she's like, I had no idea it was that much money, right? So the first reaction is, like, that much money, right? So, right? I kind of want to, like, take a step back, like, Okay, you need to understand what that gets you right and compare it. Other options are, I don't think the the daycare daycare will cost as much. But then, what are you not getting because of that? But first, it's like, what do you think you want to want to have? Like, how do you want right dynamic of everything? Like, how do you want your life to play out right with having this child? Or if you have right more than one? So sadly, we have to look at the finances right first. I can't afford it. I'd love a nanny, but I can't afford her. Sure, so, so let's talk a little bit like, what are your because you, because you work with with nannies across across us. Like, how? How do we get around that fact that, you know, maybe our finances aren't affording but that's like, the best option for us as a family.

Another really great question. So it you have a couple options here. One, part time nannies. A lot of nannies are really happy to work with multiple families during a week. So I can't stress this enough if you are at your wit's end and you feel overwhelmed and overburdened by everything on your plate, which, if we were to be honest with one another, like most moms, that's that's happening, that is more than that's happening, especially dads, too. I don't want them to feel left out. Even if you bring somebody in for 40 hours or not 4020 hours a week or 15 hours a week, you are freeing yourself up from so many things that you don't need to be doing. You don't need to be doing everything. You can let somebody handle your laundry, you can help design a meal with some or meal plan with someone and have them take care of all that prepping. And some of my nannies that I work with have had chef experience, so they're happy to come in and just do meal prep for two days a week. I mean, imagine working your job and wanting to come home and be present with your children and having all of the meals taken care of. How much time does that free up for you? Every single night and and what's the cost benefit to that you have 18 summers with your children roughly before they leave the nest and they go live their lives. It goes by very fast. They grow so fast. So it really comes down to Sure. Are you going to be spending money on a nanny that is considered a luxury, yes, but what are you getting in return? You are getting time that you wouldn't necessarily have had before, to actually be present with your children. And that's something that I talk to every parent about, because at the end of the day, you want to spend time with your children. You don't want to come home and go, Oh my gosh, I got to get a laundry started. I need to get dinner on the stove. I need to unload the dishwasher. I need to get their lunch box unpacked and their lunch packed for tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow is a swim day. Or, you know, one of them has a field trip, the other one has swim day, and the third one has a big project due like, how am I going to get all of this done when you get home at five, 530 from work, and, you know, the kids go to bed at, what, seven, eight, sometimes nine o'clock, you get two and a half three hours every night with your kids during the week, and it's just it flies by. So yes, there's a cost to this, but you know, what is your gain? And your gain is having that time. Dinner's already taken care of, laundry is already put away, the house is already tied. The dishwasher is unloaded. All you have to do is sit down and you know, if you have a nanny that's helped with a lot of the homework, maybe you're just helping with that one project, or maybe you guys are spending the night playing games. And then it comes back to what is the cost benefit for you to have that peace of mind, to have that added time in your day, to be present with your children? Yeah,

I like, I hear you loud and clear? Because this is exactly how it works. No, yeah, family, right? And often enough, it's like, I catch myself thinking, like, Okay, what if I didn't have to do these things, like these simple things, right? That you Yes. Think you can do quick like, I can make a quick dinner, and I do that every night, right? But, but you're right, what if I didn't have to do that? And it was the time was spent doing something with my son, right? Read those memories. It's the memories right that we are after, because time is their memories. You

you can't buy their memories. You cannot buy it's time that your children are going to look back and go, Oh, I had so much fun with my mom and my dad on all those nights. And you know, these are, these are memories that they're going to take into their adulthood and share with their children.

Yeah, so here's, here's, like, and then just an interesting observation, because I, I'm only experienced at this first firsthand with my son. Sure, I could argue that when the kids are a little bit younger, right, like, you can probably still, I mean, you have to be even more involved with them, because they're probably not walking, and you gotta be watching them, and so, like, your hands are tied. So it's really just more of you being with them. You soaking, soaking in that time spent now when, when you have kids that are older, or, like, school aged kids, that is the real time when you, if you spend it with them, where you, like, really get to know them. You have, yeah, this is a new play, like so I feel like, you know, maybe when they're younger, you still can kind of work around and have less help right now, like I feel for us, it's, it's probably even more important to free up just from, like, mundane stuff that we all have to do to right people, just to have like, mental capacity. It's not even like done right 30 minutes. It's more like, am I present in the moment, like right now, or I'm thinking about the dinner on the stove? Exactly,

yes. It's all about being present with your children. And you know, you know from first hand experience, yes, when they're younger, they take a little bit more hands on. But again, every family is different. You know, I've worked for families that I. I would come in for just a couple of handful hours a week and just help out where I could because they couldn't afford more, and that's fine. I've also worked with families that had other nannies on staff. I was one of three other nannies, and we would rotate and handle all the logistics of a household. And I also elevated in the household management position for a lot of families where I was overseeing everything in their house from, you know, routine fixes, electricians, plumbers, maintenance on houses, multiple properties. So it's just, you know, it's, it's in every tax bracket you can benefit from this. And even if it's, you know, a very minimal amount of hours a week, the return you're getting is so much bigger than just spending. I mean, you're going to spend money either way. What is, what is it worth to you to have that time back, be present, not having to be running around like a mad man, mad man or mad woman, and and getting to play with your kids. It's really fun. It's fun to watch. You know, I witnessed it as a nanny. I would see moms and dads come home and just become enmeshed with their family. And you know, I would sneak out the door, say goodbye, see you guys tomorrow, and I would leave them happy, giggling around the dinner table, eating dinner and like, just that alone was was so fulfilling for me to just witness. Yeah, no,

I can't agree more, so, but let's, let's still address the cost part here. Just give our listeners an idea absolutely what like. What would it like is my client who was like, thinking it was in the, you know, four to $5,000 range, too far off from what the reality is today for a full time nanny.

You know, that's that's a really good question, because it's kind of all over the place. It really depends on the experience of the nanny. If you want any special credentials, if you want them to have EMT certification, if you want them to have a nursing background, early childhood educational background, or, you know, a lot of the nannies I allow into my network have a minimum of two years experience, and they have to be CPR certified. So you have kind of a multitude of levels of what you can purchase. I think that the 4000 to $5,000 a month is is a great way to get your foot in the door and finding someone that works for your family. It just will kind of depend on all of those requirements that you need as the parents and the certifications that you want your nanny to have. I do all my background check on everything on my end, but I do have families like, well, I want somebody that is, you know, a retired nurse, I have to have someone that has a nursing background. Well, that's going to elevate your costs a little bit. I think the $4,000 is a great mark to start with, because then you can offer raise incentives for excellent work, which nanny's always love. And, you know, again, it just depends on if that's a full time position, I think that's a more than fair cost analysis, especially in some of those bigger cities. It's, it's totally doable. And of course, if you go part time, you're going to drop that cost down quite a bit as well.

Yeah. So usually, so you did talk about because I'm curious, like, how does the process work? Because I, like, if you had asked me right now to find a nanny, I'd be hiding, like, under my desk for a week. I mean, I would go, you know, Google, and I'm like, what would be the scariest part is, like, how do I know that they're, you know, how do I trust? Like, maybe all the things will test the boxes, the certification, the background check, but it's like, this thing, like, Can I trust this person with my child, right? So that's worse, yeah, talk a little bit about, like, your vetting process. What do parents need to to know and do to kind of alleviate that worry? Because I know I'm not the only one of fueling that No, no,

and that's something that I take very serious, especially after being in the industry so long myself and going through background checks done on myself. This was probably the biggest reason behind my motivation to start my agency, aside from wanting to be an advocate for all of the professional nannies out there, because, you know, we do a lot of work for a lot of people, and a lot of it goes unnoticed, but starting out with just the background check topic, it was important to me because I've heard of so many instances where parents are not doing their due diligence, and they're inviting people into their homes and to be with their children, and it does not go well. And I don't want to go down that dark path, because it's, it's really hurtful for me to even think about. But even I've had family members that were, you know, victimized by people that claim to be good people, and they weren't. And that kind of is what, you know, lit a fire under me to kind of get my my agency started, is so that I can start contributing to ensuring that children are safe, that families are safe, and that homes are safe, and again, nannies are safe too. So I have a multitude of of checks that I have every nanny go through, and it's part of the onboarding process with families. So what the do? What I do, if I have parents contact me, we set up a quick session so I can kind of get familiar with what they're looking for, full time, part time, Night Nurse, household manager, what are your needs? What is your wish list? Kind of like when you're going to look for a house? Do you need to have a garage? Do you need to have a backyard? So kind of, you know. Let's, let's talk about your dreams, the perfect nanny, the perfect assistant manager, what you're looking for. And then after that, I take a $350 deposit to go toward all of the background checks that I do. And my goal and my task after that is I go and source at least a minimum of three nannies to present to the family and that meet all of their requirements, all the educational background, all of those things. And I have the families meet with those nannies, and after doing that and holding those interviews, and I can be a part of it or not, it's completely up to them. We go forward with the background checked options. And there are a lot that I do. So I do you know anything from your driving record, I do a seven year criminal history, federal search, social security, multi state. So anywhere in this country, if they have anything on them, I will find it, and I will locate it. I do a sex offender, you know, a screening as well. That's huge for me. I verify their employment. I have additional screening. So if you decide you want to do a drug test, you know, I charge a little extra for that, but I can also require the nanny that you would you choose to take a drug test, and I can also verify their education for an additional fee too. I don't have a lot of families that choose those at this time, but it's always an option. And I I am as transparent as I can possibly be, and I do my due diligence on my end to make sure that when I vet and bring the nannies in, I feel good about offering them, aside from the background checks, I also do, you know, individual reviews. I do character assessments. I go through their social media, you know, I look at their overall representation. I have them sign a contract with me before they can even on board with my agency, with everything from, you know, quality control of what they're offering to the attire they're going to wear in your home. I don't want my nanny showing up, you know, not dressed appropriately for the position, and making anyone feel uncomfortable. And I am so fortunate that a lot of the nannies I network with are all such amazing professionals that I haven't had any issues with that. But you never know, especially if parents really want to choose someone that doesn't have the most experience. I do see a little bit more of or of that for those that are like at that two year mark. And then I also go through and I check their references to a T I call. And then, you know, I always, I always ask families as well, you know, can you please supply some references for your future nanny? The whole goal here is to make sure in this investment that you're making, this nanny is going to be around. They're not going anywhere. A lot of families that are hiring on their own have a high turnover rate because they don't think of all the things that I'm going to think of because I've been doing this for so long, they don't think of well, I left dishes in the sink for the nanny, and we've been doing that every week. Well, guess what? Your nanny doesn't like coming in on Mondays to a house that's completely trashed, feeling like you left everything for them that doesn't make them feel appreciated and it doesn't make them want to stick around. So these are all kind of like pain points that I bring up in my process to make sure when I make this match, you guys aren't going to need to call me again, like unless you want to tell me how happy you are, which happens all the time. But yeah, with that being said, you know, once they choose a nanny, I do a 30 day trial period, and then that 30 day trial period, if something comes up, or the family decides that it's not working, then I go find another nanny on my tap. That is my mission. My goal is to make sure that not only the parents are happy and the nannies are happy, but the children are supported, and they feel like their lives are being enriched and that they're being well cared for. And you know, safety is of at the top of my list, and every situation I encounter,

yeah, I loved it. I love how you process. I mean, you, you said so many things that I was like, Oh my gosh, I didn't, I mean, you know, the normal stuff, yeah, that, but, but, I mean, I like that. There are so there are expectations of a nanny, a person that you hiring, right? And I kind of know that from the from the seat of being, you know, business owner and having hired people, I'm like, here's what your job description looks like? Yeah, the other side, right. Like, what is expected of like, in my case, an employer, you know, to provide to an employee to be happy. So here what's expected of a family, like, don't leave No, you know, maybe the dirty dishes in the sink isn't what you know. You can't expect any Annie to clean those up. If that was not discussed in your group. Exactly, yes. Spoken expectations, right? Is, yeah, what kills, like, the relationships and everybody absolutely that nanny, where maybe she wasn't the bat nanny or he, right? No,

right, yes, Manny's exist. And I've been in those situations where I've come in from, you know, being off all weekend and enjoying my life. And you know, the family has left mountain loads of laundry, dishes are everywhere. The kids rooms are a mess. I have to make the beds. And it, it kind of morphed from being able to spend time with the children and handle those duties into, oh my gosh, I'm also a housekeeper, which is fine, if you communicate that to begin. And with, and a lot of families that I've come into contact with have had really, you know, not the best impressions from nannies, because they're not communicating these things. Like, yes, we do want you to so it's part of my process and my forms that everybody fills out, you know, tell me exactly what you want this nanny to perform, so that they know stepping into this role. Are you going to want them to travel with you. Are you going to pay them extra to travel with you? Are you going to want them to do housekeeping? Are you going to want them to run errands? Are they using their own car? Are they using a car that you have? These are things that people really don't think about. And a lot of nannies are actually moving away from this platform called care.com because there was a huge lawsuit involved, where nannies were being told the pay was, you know, less than what was actually being offered. So a lot of parents that I'm coming into contact with today like, Oh, we're on care.com but we're not having much luck. I'm like, Yeah, because all the professional nannies that know what they're doing are not on there anymore. They're talking with agencies like me. I

wanted to ask about care.com because I've, I've experienced, you know, before, where I looked, and it seems, it seemed to me, like it was rather easy, you know, you set up your own profile. I mean, there's a background check, I think, yeah, and then that's it, that's it, right? So, like, I can be a nanny. I mean, I can babysit kids. Why? Right? You have my mother, mother, motherly experience, but that's it, right? So anyone can become any, any and I'm sure you start like that right until you've reached, oh yeah, a certain point, and you've done it enough, enough hours, right? But I think that that is really, really crucial and important. And like discovering that right at the beginning, I also think, like, I didn't know that you know, agencies like yours existed, right? Or I didn't look further enough to Right. Or because you would like, you would ask a friend, right? Or some like another mom that you know, like, who is your nanny? Or who do you know? How do you recommend? And it always me that there was such a it was a scarce thing to have a nanny, like, I have a good one, yes, I'm not sharing her.

Yeah, yes, absolutely right. And I

don't blame Yeah, I don't blame them. Like, if you have a good one, you want her to stay with you,

yeah, you can't take her from me. She's mine. I've been that nanny, like, I've been, I've been safeguarded by families and missed out on helping more families because they've wanted to keep me so it's it's a it's a wonder. It's a flattering thing to have happen, but it also is. It's detrimental to your career if you're really into as care for caring for children. But I was on care.com and I went through their background check process. And I've heard from families that they don't really feel like those background checks are very thorough, so that's why I also, you know, added extra muscle to mine. I really wanted to ensure the safety that other companies are just really falling short on right now. It just to me, if you know, in the in the world and in the industry, what do you have to lose if you do a couple extra background checks and really do your due diligence? And that's, that's what I'm here for. I'm, yeah, I'm happy. I'm happy to do that for you, to make sure your children are safe. That makes me happy. I can sleep well at night knowing that I've done my job correctly. Yeah,

no, it's amazing. I mean, it's all huge, like, you know, huge point in your in your, you know, in your side, when you're going that deep, for somebody who's like me would be like, I'm worried I like that background check that they're talking about didn't really justify anything, because it's right, it's still, it's still, it's still a process. So you also mentioned that there are options for families to have, like, either a part time nanny, or, I hear this term like a shared nanny. Is that a term or the sense of, like, when two families, or maybe three, let's talk about that. Like, how does that is that more involved? Like, how do you get in, into the situation like that? Because I think, again, from the standpoint of cost, that might be something that you know, and your child gets exposed to other kids, right? So you have a lot, right? Yeah, Troy experience on that, on that.

So part time Annies are great, and I've definitely been a part time Annie myself, especially when children are in school, and I would just be around for like, 3pm or early release until the parents would get home. So that was really great, because I could have another job during the day or a time I was in college so I could go to school and handle what I needed to do and still make it in time to pick up kids. Nanny shares are really wonderful, but I don't really deal with them very much because it's such an intimate situation and there's so much scheduling involved that I just removed myself from it, because typically, at that point, families have that all under control, but typically what a nanny shares, from what my understanding is that the nanny is basically shared among households, and they kind of are Monday, Tuesday and Fridays are at Jane Smith's house, and then on Wednesday, Thursdays are at, you know, Joe schmoes house, and the family kind of contributes all together in some instances, you know, especially during the pandemic, I had multiple families that. I would go to one house, and people would bring their children to that house, and I would watch everyone, and I had a limit of no more than six kids at a time, because even then, I was like, that's that's a lot of energy. That's a lot to have, you know, if I take my eyes off one for a second, like, who knows what could happen? So, you know, it does exist. I don't really dabble in those affairs very much, just because, again, it's such a scheduling fiasco to try and coordinate and herd that many cats at once, whereas my my realm of expertise is more like, let me show you, consistency and reliability. Whereas a nanny share is kind of whatever the family can contribute, whatever they can bring in for their schedules, whatever works best for them. And I see that a lot more during the summer, which is awesome, again, whatever we can do to help families. And you know, if, if somebody is trying to get into that, you know, give me a call. I'm still happy to to offer background checks on whoever you decide to hire. I offer the background checks through my agency at $350 but if you want to just pay for them, they're about $500 for the top eight that I can do. So I just say, you know, if you want to cover my cost and my time to do that, I'm happy to do the background check on your nanny share. But other than that, I kind of just let families figure that out and source their own nanny. Or if I have a nanny that's interested in doing that, I'm happy to share their information. But in my experience, I find nanny shares are not as consistent as, you know, part time dedicated or a full time dedicated nanny,

yeah. What about, like, transportation? Because that's one of the things, right, like, because you're, I mean, and I know that's probably been part of your discovery process, and absolutely, they're driving and have a clean driving record?

Yes, so I definitely do a driving references check. I make sure that their driving record is clean. Anything that comes up on it, I obviously show it. I mean, the nanny gets a copy of the background check as well as the family, so everybody has the information. Again, transparency all the way through what I know, you know, we all know. And so if you do want your nanny to be driving your children, that's great. I do stay for my nannies, I instruct them to make sure that parents are putting the child car seats in the car, because it's such a liability to add those yourself. So I do, you know, I let the parents know, like, Hey, if you're having your nanny drive, you need to put those car seats, and you need to make sure they're set up correctly. I don't want that to be on the nanny, because if anything happens, I don't want this to come back on them. And then I also encourage my nannies to sign a separate form that I don't really provide, but I'm working on it currently, that basically removes them of any liability in the event that there is an accident, more deaths. I've done that with many families that I've worked with that, if anything does happen, you know, God forbid there is ever an accident, it does happen. I'm in several nanny groups. There are nannies that post about this, like, oh my gosh, I was an offender bender. Everybody's okay, but like, I'm so scared to tell the parents it's fine. That's why you have that extra liability form of like, it's an accident. You didn't wake up today going like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to get an accent with my nanny kids today, when I was a nanny, I preferred that the family provided a vehicle for me, because kids have absolutely trashed my vehicle in the past. Remember, I bought a brand new Subaru right after college, and I was at work one day, and I was helping a little girl she fell off her scooter and scraped her knees. And her toddler brother, I just turned, you know, right there by the car, and I was helping her with her scrape knees turn around. He had a rock and was like, drawing on the side of my car. And I just, I felt so bad to have to tell the parents, like, Hey, I'm going to need this detailed out, because I literally, I had maybe 100 miles on it. I just bought it. So I learned then and there. I preferred to work for families that had a vehicle for me to use. And a lot of families, you know, they find a way. You know, they have some, you know, somebody is getting rid of some vehicle, and it's nothing fancy, but it's great for the kids they can, you know, make all the messes they can eat, all the snacks. For the nannies that do end up driving their own vehicles? There is a federal tax or gas incentive. I think it's 72 cents a mile. You have to reimburse them for gas. And that's not something that I've created. That's just the law. And I always encourage families when, oh, what do we want to do for Christmas bonus or Christmas present and like, get them an oil change, get their tires rotated. You know, I think a lot of families underestimate how much wear and tear you are putting on somebody else's vehicle. And if you live somewhere where I do, like, in Colorado, you know, I always encourage like, Hey, you should probably get your nanny some snow tires, because I don't think they're going to pay for that. And do you want your children to be safe? So there's that added element of control when you have your own vehicle to offer for the nanny, where you can take care of all these things. But some families, you know, of course, don't want to have to deal with another car on their insurance and all of those things, but it is something that I've done as a nanny. I mean, you are a chauffeur, especially as the children are older. I want nannies for a family with five. Children. And the oldest were, you know, teenagers, and it was boxing, and then, you know, piano lessons, and then archery, fencing. And I was just driving all over town trying to shuttle everyone. Then you have the weekend activities with soccer, football, and it's just having that extra set, that extra person, if your husband's on a business trip, you know, and you need to be in five places at once, your nanny can help with that?

Yeah, totally. I want to ask a little bit about, like, what, like, the actual employment setup looks like. So the nannies are, like, self employed, right? Your agency, like, how does the whole money exchange happens? What do parents need to think about? Because I know there's questions come up often, like, paying a nanny, do I like, set up my own little business? So let's talk about that. That's

an excellent question. So yes, your nanny is a w2 employee you are going to, you're going to, you know, show that they, you're paying them on your taxes, and then they're also going to be a tax employee. I don't have anything to do with that at this time, as I continue to grow my agency, I hope to eventually remove my agency fees and just create a portal so that I'm overseeing all of the payroll for all of the nannies. But that's just a scaling situation. But in the meantime, yes, every parent that hires a nanny right now, I do not take anything from the nanny's wages for my fees, you pay a fee of their expected annual salary for that first year that goes to me for all the work, finding background check, everything, and then you are responsible after that for their salary or their hourly whatever you're paying them. And you will designate them as a w2 employee on your taxes, and that way they're also paying their taxes. So everybody's legitimate, great question,

yeah, because that's okay. So we need to explore our fines and resources for people who are because setting up, you know, somebody to be I've never had to do it, but I know there's forms probably you have to fill out. Maybe ask an accountant, yes, absolutely.

I work with a couple CPAs, and so I kind of get their information. But, you know, again, I work with people all over the country. So if that's something that comes up, that's part of what I do, that's part of my agency fees. I find those people for you too. I do everything in my power to make this as easy of a transition for you as possible, easy as a you know, from everything from A to Z whatever you have questions about, I find the answer. If I don't know the answer, I'll say, Hey, I don't have the answer to that, but I will find out, because that's who I am. And so I haven't had any families come back and go, Oh my gosh, this is so overwhelming. I don't know how to do any of this. Typically, a lot of families are already using an accountant, or they have a financial advisor of some sort, and so they just kind of tack this into their overall financial scheme. I have worked for families that have told me they weren't going to report me on their taxes, and then they ended up doing so, and that created a huge mess on the end run. So now it's all communicated up front, making sure they are fully aware, and that's part of the onboarding process too. But yes, it's not as intimidating as it may seem like. I think when people hear taxes, they're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to deal with IRS. I don't want to go to jail. But in all honesty, like it, it's pretty easy, because the IRS wants your money, so they're going to make it easy on you to,

yeah, to make sure all of it. What about like? And this is me, the financial planner, sure, thinking like, What about like, you know, benefits. I mean, you're working for a small business, like a family is a business, right? I just kind of envisioned it that way. What about health insurance? What about like, you know, other other types of benefits, is that? I mean, is that common? How does a nanny go about getting those if the family doesn't provide it,

that's a great question. If the family doesn't provide it, they're they're kind of left to the free market, and what they can find, especially in our country, is not the most ideal I have worked for several families that offer those benefits, they offer PTO, they offer health insurance, they offer sick days, and that's kind of the most ideal situation. A lot of families obviously can't offer that, so it's just one of those things where the nanny may come back and ask for a higher salary or a higher wage in order to cover that out of pocket expense. But I do have a network of healthcare insurance providers as well that I am in communication with, so that if I do have a nanny in that situation and they're very concerned about it, I connect them with those people, so it's not so much the family having to take on that responsibility, and it's just something again, in the onboarding process, we talk about that too. Like, are you going to offer any benefits? If so, what are you offering? If you are going to offer PTO, would you like me to help you find somebody during those events to watch your children so that you're not lapsing in child care? Typically, in those situations, you are still going to be paying for that other person to come in, because I'm not at that level yet again, once I get my agency up and running to that point, which is the goal, where everybody kind of just has a membership, and then I cover all of it, from A to Z taxes, PTO, supplemental care, all of it. So. Kind of a more well oiled machine. But in the meantime, you know, if you are offering PTO, make sure you are very clear on those days that you are going to allow for that person you may want to take, you know, you may want to set up PTO for timing that your family wants to be on vacation. So it's kind of a win win for everyone. But yes, it is. It is something that is definitely asked of often, and it just comes down to every situation, every family's different. What you're willing to offer, what you can offer, what you can't, and just being really upfront about that, you know, don't feel like a bad person and feel like I can't, can't handle benefits at this time, that's fine. Danny is are gonna work regardless. And at the end of the day, I think the one thing people are really overlooking when they start. You know, incorporating finances and taxes is that you're working with someone that genuinely wants to help your children and help your family. That's how I operated. The benefits and everything works itself out for me in the end run, I never really made a big deal out of it, and it has worked out for me even to this day. Mm, hmm,

no, that's That's nice to hear. I, I, I'm sure there's lots of questions around all of that. When you do get your agency expanded, that would be, I think, an amazing, an amazing setup for everyone around because, again, absolutely parents overwhelmed as is. Options is a lot you mentioned. So, a nanny. We talked about nanny. You also mentioned household help. Like, how what's the bridge there? Is that a completely different role? How do you like, how do you help families with that?

So, household managers, I think, is what you're referring to. Yes, yes, household manager. So that is a level above a nanny. In my world, everybody has their different terminology and how they like to describe it, but typically you have, like, the nanny, which is just there for the children, some light hold household duties, and then your household manager is someone that's going to be over seeing so much more than just your children they're going to be handling, you know. And some nannies will help with this too. It just depends on, you know, your specifics and requirements for the for the position you're offering. But you know, as a former household manager, I would do everything from overseeing vehicle maintenance for all the vehicles, overseeing all the property management maintenance that needed to happen for all the properties. Again, this is a higher scale, uh, situation where families have multiple properties, multiple vehicles. I would also research camps for the children and also sign them up for the camps. You know, a lot of the time camps offer their enrollment when you are getting to work at 8am on a Monday, and that's when you have to sign them up. And it's like, Sorry, boss, I can't be present at work right now. I need to sign my kid up for these camps before they fill up and shut down and close up for the summer. So I also oversaw a lot of that scheduling activities. A lot of the children that I've worked with in the past had the ability to have private instruction, whether it was fencing, boxing, piano or some sort of instrument dance classes, singing classes, all of those things. So it's kind of, in a way, I joke around that it's, I'm basically a wife that I handle everything, anything and everything. So meal planning, if you have more than a nanny, and you have an actual staff, for those that are at that caliber of of assistance in your household, it's overseeing the chef, you know, planning the meals out for the week and having it overseen by the parents, or even for the month, depending on how far in advance they're working. I mean, you know, I've worked for some people that are, you know, absolute, you know, billionaires, and so the less that they had to deal with and were allowing the staff to oversee, that is what the household manager would kind of take over. And it kind of was a level above of, yeah, I still helped with the children and I still orchestrated those events. But then it was also property management, vehicle maintenance, travel. You know, sometimes I would work with travel agents to get the family book to travel around the world for summer, because that's what they wanted to spend their time doing. And so it's just kind of creating and orchestrating that schedule and kind of keeping every single part of the wheel in place and making sure everybody was accounted for and everybody was doing what they needed to be doing. So really, really fun. Love doing it. Highly recommend anybody that has that ability to have a household manager. Highly recommend it. It's it's really rewarding on our end, and it's phenomenal on your end, to just kind of let go and enjoy living

yes and spend all the time doing things that you really love doing.

Yes, yes, exactly. Well, that's,

I mean, it's been awesome. I'm really, really excited that we got to spend time talking about these different options and what families can consider for their child here, we didn't really touch on, like daycare and, you know, other other options, preschool, but I think, sure we I think we can have another discussion on that at some point,

absolutely,

especially because you specialize in and nannies and the. One Actually, I'll mention I've had a few clients who had au pairs. So these live in nannies, right? Yes. Do you have some thoughts on those types of au

pairs? Typically, in my experience, and those that I have met are not the happiest, because they're not really making enough money to really survive. It's kind of a program that allows them to come to our country and kind of live for essentially free room and board in exchange for for nannying and taking care of children. And I have met a few that are really happy. You know, some of them were from Romania, Philippines, France. Did meet one girl from Germany. They were all really happy with it, but they, you know, once they met me and saw the kind of nannying I offered, they're like, Wow, I should have just moved here and taken a role as a nanny, because I would actually be able to afford to go see the country that I'm visiting, whereas now a lot of au pairs are working really, really long hours and not for very enough pay to really go do anything. So I do, I do work within with, live in nannies as well. I actually just interviewed a nanny. She was a real life Mary Poppins, with the British accent and everything she lives in. La, she's been a nanny for over 40 years, and she loves live in positions, because her kids have flown the nest, and it gives her the opportunity to go live wherever in the country, in the world. And so there, there is that option to not to discredit the Au Pair industry, or, you know, the people that are into that. It's just in my realm, I want to make sure that my nannies are really well taken care of. Because I, in my experience, when you take really good care of your employees, they always want to go that extra mile for you. They always want to go do that little bit extra to be you know, I always joke around, they want to do that little extra to take ordinary to extraordinary, because you're taking such good care of them. And all the Au Pairs I've met were so sweet and kind, but they also really felt like they weren't being valued for what they were offering. And so there's that, you know, that tug of war happening where families are trying to find that cheap childcare option through the Au Pair agencies, but in the end result, like, are you really bringing someone in your home that's happy, fulfilled, feeling valued and appreciated, that's going to do a really good job, versus if you pay, you know, perhaps a little bit more for a live in nanny, or some nannies, you can cover their room and board and pay them a weekly stipend, and they're still very happy. You're going to get that extra level of, you know, care that you wouldn't necessarily get if somebody's just coming in from another country to check things

out, yeah, yeah, no. I think I've heard similar experience where it's, there's, yeah, these all pairs. I mean, the one, I think the one highlight that a lot of families are proud of, like, Okay, if you're bringing somebody from a different country, then there's opportunity for kids to learn that language, right? Yes, yeah. So, like, there's benefit to that, of course, or if you have a buyer family, right? Like somebody comes to your own country that, of course, that's helpful. There's

pros and cons to everything. There's pros and cons to daycare, there's pros and cons to nanny, there's pros and cons to au pairs, household managers. It just depends on what your family needs, what your finances will allow, what you want to trade, what you want for your family. And you know, it's a decision either way that you have to make. Nobody else can make it for you. Yes, that's true, and it's an it's an awesome ending to our conversation, because we started with like, how do we make this decision? So I'm excited that we we got to understand a little bit more about what you offer and so And one last question before we close, like, how long does the process take a finding a nanny? With your great question, it depends on how specific your requirements are. If you don't have a lot of requirements and you just want to find somebody within a month, I can make that happen if you have a lot of requirements and a lot of credentials and things that are very specific to you and your family, or if you're looking, you know, especially for Special Needs fannies, which I also help find. You know, sometimes that process can take a little bit longer. So it can take anywhere from a matter of weeks to a matter of months, depending on how particular you want to be. And with that being said, for those moms that are listening, that are currently pregnant and looking to possibly have a nanny or night nurse. I wouldn't wait until you have given birth to start figuring that out. I would start that process now, because it can take a little while, especially if you want to take your time. I don't like any parent making any decision under a desperate stance. I want to make sure that this decision is being made from a place of love, and oh my gosh, this is a wonderful connection. Not like, Oh, I got to find somebody yesterday. This is just I didn't, I didn't plan ahead. And so I think the more that you guys can you know, plan for that timing. And if you know, coming into it and working with an agency, which I hopefully is with me, that you know, if you have a lot of specifics, a lot of requirements, it may take a little while longer, but in my experience, so far, I think the longest it's been is maybe two months. Yeah,

no. I mean, I it seems like reasonable, but you're right. We tend to do, yeah, we tend to do things like at the last minute. So yeah,

great advice. No time like the present, right? Yeah, I know I agree 100%

All right, well, for for today, any last minute closing thoughts for all the parents, thank

you so much for having me on your podcast. For those of you that are listening, thank you for listening me talk about something that I'm incredibly passionate about. I hope that you have enjoyed it, and I look forward to speaking with anyone that's curious. Even if you have questions, feel free to reach out to me on my website, email. I'm here for you

awesome, and we'll include the all the Connect information and places in the show notes so folks can reach out. Well, thank you, Bryn, so much. I already feel better for all of those parents out there

agonizing about like, what do I? Do you have options? Call Brynn, yeah, I'm here for you. That should

be your tag. Call Brent, yes. Thanks so much. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. Bye.