What is the name of your business and where are you located?
My business is called Nanny Heroes Agency & Consulting. We serve all of New Jersey and have offices based in Livingston and Summit.
Tell us more about it!
Nanny Heroes Agency is a referral and consulting agency for all household needs. These services include childcare, family assistants, household managers, housekeepers, and beyond! We specialize in Nannies, hence the name, however we help with pretty much all household needs! It’s our mission to help simplify and improve the household and family dynamic. We believe that with the right help, families can thrive, and parents may focus on spending more time with their kids.
What inspired you to start Nanny Heroes?
I have been in childcare/education publicly and privately for about ten years. When I switched from teaching to nannying, I had such fabulous experiences with all of my nanny families. I evolved from nanny to family assistant, to then doing consulting on the side-helping coach parents through finding a nanny, techniques to use with their children, and more. I enjoy being such an integral part of forming foundations for children. Being in the industry for so long, I was saddened to see that not all nannies I spoke with or would see at the park or classes had the same dedication to this industry as I, and many others did. If I had a dollar for every time a parent asked if they could clone me, I could’ve started the business earlier LOL! So that’s what I did! I tried to clone myself by creating a comprehensive and thoughtful vetting process for all household employees who wanted to work with us. I also felt it was vital to bridge the gap between worker-agency and family-agency. I found many workers and families were scared to go the agency route as they had been burned before or didn’t feel properly advocated for.
As for timing, Nanny Heroes was my early-stage pandemic baby! For every sign I saw that said “Thank you Heroes” I thought to myself, what other industries should I be giving a special appreciation to during these unprecedented times? I went through my list and gave praise to them all, but it’s not our instinct to ever really thank ourselves. I realized how much families needed childcare, even more so-when working from home. While I was only one person, I was truly impacting families. I wanted to do this on a greater scale and reach more families. I think the pandemic has given a newfound appreciation for the industry and we thank all our fellow heroes. And with that the name Nanny Heroes was born! We started with just Nannies, but quickly realized the need for covering all of the bases for a flowing home. I wanted to give my clients a company they could trust for all of their needs.
How is your business different than the rest? And why is this important for moms?
I hate to give the cliche answer of “our hearts are in it”, but this is absolutely the case. Our whole team is comprised of people who have worked directly in the household space or are parents themselves. We truly do not do this for the money. We believe deeply in changing the family dynamic for generations to come and put a strong focus on family-time and education. Our business model as a referral agency is a lot more flexible for parents than a typical placement agency. We truly listen to what every parent has to say about their home, their children, and note how unique their situation is. This is not a one-size fits all type of business. Once we have an understanding of your needs and how you want to handle the search, we tailor the process as such. We pride ourselves in not only finding candidates who are competent and experienced, but that are true personality matches since working in a household environment is so intimate and delicate. We are personable, down to earth, and happy to work as formally or informally as our clients please. We recognize that at the end of the day, you know what is best for your family and we are here simply to help you become well informed on the market. We manage expectations, represent your family in the best light to gain interest, and find quality candidates that you may not find otherwise.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a small business?
Nanny Heroes’ biggest challenge was definitely how fast we grew and having to evolve to meet the demand of the market. This industry is absolutely a word-of-mouth driven industry. When you’re trusting someone in your home, you want to feel safe and secure, knowing this person will treat it as their own. Client referrals drive our business, and we do everything we can do accommodate clients. We have had to become more selective in the families we work with as there just aren’t enough hours in the day- no matter how many people we hire, to help everyone we want to!
What are you looking forward to for the future of Nanny Heroes?
Nanny Heroes is looking forward to continuing our work providing jobs for our community and helping households run with as much love and efficiency as possible. We haven’t announced this anywhere yet, so you’re the first to know it’s in the works, but we will be expanding within the next year! We aim to open up in Florida to help all of our bicoastal families have quality help no matter where they travel to. We recognize the influx of NJ/NY families who move south permanently or seasonally and aim to corner that market. We think we have a great understanding of our audience and what families from this area are looking for as well as what their lifestyle may entail.
What do you love about living in Bergen County?
I grew up in Livingston and now live in Summit. I can only speak to the wonderful clients and fellow business owners I have worked with in Bergen County….and my dining preferences, shoutout to all of your great restaurants! But my head of recruitment and right hand in this business-Rebecca, was born and raised in Bergenfield, so I will let her take this one as an expert in everything Bergen.
What do I love about Bergen County? Where do I begin? If I had to choose one thing, I would say what speaks to me the most- is the incredible diversity we have.
Growing up, I remember being surrounded by so many different cultures. I feel that learning to be inclusive and celebrate everyone’s backgrounds at a young age set the tone for who I am as an adult today.
Now- decades later, as I work alongside many Bergen County families, I am so grateful that these values still hold true to our county. I am able to see firsthand how these values are being passed down to each generation.
To learn more about Nanny Heroes Agency visit the website or follow along on Instagram & Facebook.