Each month we highlight one of our agency partners, and get to know a little more about them and their insights into the household employment industry. This month we spoke with Debra Brown-Adamo, owner of Nannies Who Care.
Agency Vitals
- Founded in 1989
- Serves the greater Tampa Bay area plus parts of Orlando and central Florida
- Specializes in full-time and part-time nannies, on-call services, hotel and event child care, corporate backup, newborn care, pet sitting, and supervised visitation
How did you get started?
Just before I had my first child, I was looking to start my own business because I knew I would need some flexibility between work and home. During this time, I was searching for childcare for myself and I realized the need in my area for quality child care, so I did my research, and opened my agency.
What is your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is finding quality nannies, particularly those that view themselves as a professional, choose this work as a career path and take their job seriously.
What do you look for to make successful placements?
The basis of making successful placements for us is ensuring our nannies are of the best quality. During in-person interviews, we present our agency’s journal of standards that our nannies read and agree to. We also require that our nannies attend one of our in-house trainings a year in addition to National Nanny Training Day. We help our clients through the process from start to finish. Once they have chosen a nanny, we provide a Family/Nanny Agreement for both parties to sign.
How do you advertise/market your agency? / How do you find new families?
The number one way we find new families is through our own clients who refer to us. We also rely heavily on social media – we have a marketing person on staff to do social media postings and advertising. We partner with companies like Visit Tampa Bay, event planners, spas and child related businesses. We advertise our services at hotels, as we are in a vacation/tourist area, and do promotions with restaurants, and limousine companies for “date night”
How do you distinguish yourself from online agencies? / How do you show your value?
We educate our families on the differences between a full-service agency like ours and an online job site. We explain everything we do to make their lives easier. All our nannies are pre-screened, so families don’t have to weed through hundreds of unqualified applicants. Many sites say they do background checks, but they are not thorough. Families have a false sense of security when using an on-line list that states they do background checks. Those checks are just database checks; cities and counties are not required to report to this database, so if this is all they rely on, families could be hiring someone with an arrest record! Our nannies must meet our high standards. Families will not have to deal with no-shows at interviews. We provide ongoing support for our families as well with on-call services if their nanny should not be available or they just want a date night.
How do you help families understand the benefits of paying legally?
We advise our families that nannies are employees and need to be paid legally. When we place a nanny, we send a link to the family to our payroll partners so they can get all the correct and up to date information. We also inform them that there are tax benefits they can get from being a household employer.
What changes have you seen over the years in the household employment industry?
Having started this business before the age of the internet, the biggest change in the industry has certainly been that, and the advent of the online job boards. Most people think of this as impactful for the families, but it’s also affected nannies – I’ve seen many that had a bad experience using the online sites. Just as families don’t really know who they’re hiring, nannies don’t know the family they are going to work for and have been worried about their own safety.
How has GTM helped your agency and your families?
It’s nice to know we have a partner I can confidently refer my families to, that GTM will take care of our families’ need to simplify the process. Families want a one-stop shop with as little red tape as possible, and GTM provides that.
What are some fun facts about you or your agency?
In 2017, we won the Best of the Bay award for Nanny Services, and we’re very proud of that. A fun thing we do for our nannies is Nanny Night Out – we invite all our nannies out to dinner and always have a great time. I also do volunteer work for abused/neglected children and/or children in foster homes. This includes regular visits to children’s homes, attending meetings, and going to court on the children’s behalf to ensure they are placed in a safe and loving home.
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