Adventure Nannies On Air

Collaboration Over Competition with Dara Yates

• Adventure Nannies

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We are officially in the thick of the holiday season! This time of year is all about community and connection, which is the perfect lead-in to our conversation with a very special guest: Dara Yates, the founder of Seaside Staffing Company.

Dara, who began her career as a nanny and teacher, shares her inspiring journey from working out of a "little shack in Pacific Beach" to running a national, multi-service domestic staffing brand. In this episode, we discuss:

  • The crucial power of collaboration over competition in the domestic staffing industry.
  • The real-deal challenges of going from being a nanny to an entrepreneur.
  • How vulnerability and building relationships with colleagues makes the entire industry stronger.
  • Why leaning into your community—like those built at industry events or through masterminds—can make all the difference in achieving massive business growth.
  • Dara's latest creative endeavor, the Pages and Play Podcast, which connects children's literature with hands-on learning experiences.

This conversation is a must-listen for any nanny or agency owner looking to grow their career, break through their own self-imposed limits, and foster meaningful connections in a small, passionate field.

Guest Bio & Resources

Dara Yates is the Founder of Seaside Staffing Company and Seaside Nannies. Originally from upstate New York, Dara has been building her business for over 21 years, growing it from a hyperlocal market in Southern California into a nationwide brand. She is a dedicated advocate for the industry and serves on the board of the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies (APNA).

Connect with Dara Yates & Seaside Staffing:

Pages and Play Podcast:

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SPEAKER_01:

Working with kids is the most rewarding, exhausting, and unpredictable job on the planet. And we are so here for all of it. Welcome everyone to Adventure Nannies on Air. This is the place where we get into the conversations that are really on the minds of incredible nannies and families day in and day out. I'm Shenandoah. And I'm Regan. And we're here from the team at Adventure Nannies, a nationwide agency that helps progressive, globally minded families find the talented, passionate nannies, educators, and newborn care specialists to join them on all their adventures.

SPEAKER_02:

We're tackling everything from the big stuff like how to navigate conversations about legal pay to the fun stuff like our go-to hacks for making travel with kids feel like a total breeze.

SPEAKER_01:

Along the way, we'll hear stories and learn from incredible guests, both in and outside the nanny industry.

SPEAKER_02:

Whether you're a parent, a nanny, or a lost person on the internet, we're glad you're here with us. Let's get into it. Before we get started, just a quick note. The views you're going to hear today are the personal opinions of our guests and don't necessarily represent the official views of adventure nannies.

SPEAKER_01:

And a heads up for anyone with little ones nearby. We can get a little passionate, which means some salty language might pop up. You might want to grab your headphones for this one. Well, we are officially into the thick of it. It is December. Whether you're celebrating Hanukkah, getting ready for Christmas, Kwanzaa, or just soaking up the holiday winter energy, things are probably feeling pretty full.

SPEAKER_02:

Full is the perfect word for it, especially after the number of holiday parties I've been to in the last couple of weeks. Here in North Carolina, there's like uh an endless, an endless amount of baked pre and deviled eggs and little bacon wrapped anything. Anything that goes in an oven now has bacon wrapped on it and maybe some syrup. And it's I'm very full in the best way. This time of year is all about community and connection, but it can also be so overwhelming. Especially as a caregiver, you're often put in the position of trying to navigate how to keep celebrating your own dynamics and traditions while also learning and understanding and implementing the family that you're working for's traditions and what makes the holidays a special time for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And that feeling of connection is a perfect lead into today's episode. I know you got to sit down with someone who's really special in our industry, Dara Yates. It's always so cool when we get to connect with other industry owners.

SPEAKER_02:

Dara is one of my favorite people. I've met her a few years ago, and we have just been, even though we're on opposite coasts, a little bit inseparable. She is the founder of Seaside Staffing Company and Seaside Nannies, and used to be a nanny and a teacher herself in her journey, kind of coming up in the industry to being the amazing agency owner and advocate and supporter she is today, is just beautiful. The main thing that Dara and I talked about is this power of collaboration over competition, because I think a lot of families don't realize how small the industry is or nannies, and they think that, you know, there are millions of nanny agencies and that we're all fighting with each other and that none of us talk to each other. But, you know, Dara and I have been able to become really good friends. And realistically, a lot of the good friends that I've made in the last 10 years that I've been at Adventure Nannies are from within the industry. Like I remember I got married three years ago, and my like old friends who were at the wedding from my touring musician days were kind of freaked out because they kept, you know, trying to be good wedding guests and talking to the other 90 people at this wedding, and they're like, and what do you do? And everyone was like, Oh, yes, I own a nanny agency. They're like, Really? Another one.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. And I love Dara. And I love just that we're all in this together. I agree. You know, I think it's so much fun when we get to get together with other agency employees and owners at industry events and really support each other because it's really not about competition, it's about making the whole industry better for all of us, including all of the nannies that we serve. A thousand percent.

SPEAKER_02:

So Dara and I chatted about the importance of vulnerability, the real deal challenges of going from being a nanny to being an entrepreneur, and how leaning into your community can make all the difference. In a season that's all about togetherness, this conversation just felt right.

SPEAKER_01:

I cannot wait to hear it. So here is Shenandoah's conversation with the amazing Dara Yates.

SPEAKER_02:

Hi, Dara.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, Shenandoah. I'm so excited to be here with you. This is so fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Dara, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you're doing here and what your business is and where you live and everything all the things. Just tell us everything, please. Okay, sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Um, gosh, well, let's see. Um I have had seaside for 21 years. I started it in my little shack in Pacific Beach in Southern California and San Diego. Originally I am from upstate New York, but I left when I was 27 uh with$1,200 to my name and a boyfriend. Yeah. And two dogs. So it was Camp Chaos on the way out of New York. Hit Colorado for a year, and then eventually made it out here because the family I nanny's for actually moved to La Jolla when I moved to Colorado. And I got a phone call from that mom about 11 months in, said, We'd love to have you come out because we're having trouble and we can't do this without you. And I said, Okay, sure. So she picked me up from the airport. I happily got in her car and she drove me around where the children's pool is in La Jolla, which is where all the seals kind of camp out uh during certain times of the year. And I said, I'm sold. So I've been here ever since. And uh that's 30 years. That's that's a long time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Somewhere I've never lived somewhere for 30 years.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, I kind of took a little bit of a brief stint in in Europe, which was wonderful. But uh yeah, I mean, I started Seaside um just for the simple fact that I was being pulled off the playground. I was teaching preschool for a little bit. I taught for about nine years between two facilities in La Jolla as well. And um, you know, I was being pulled off the playground and and poached off of the preschool lot, saying, Hey, could you work for us? Hey, what are you doing this summer? Hey, do you want to travel with us? And I got to spend summers in Aspen. I uh was able to do after school pickups and drop-offs and date nights and so forth and so on. So between teaching, uh finishing college and uh waiting tables on the weekend, I decided that enough was enough and I would try to do something for myself, which is basically start Seaside. And uh the first two years I had my company, I did all those things simultaneously, and it ended up taking off. And I think I guess I was uh 2006. So I was two years in with Seaside, and then 2006 I placed a chef uh in one of the San Diego Padres households, because again, here it's a small neighborhood, so your name gets passed around. And that was my leap of faith. I I went to the mom that I was working for at that point, full time. I had not I was not teaching preschool, but I had been a nanny full-time for this one family at that point for two years. And I said to the mom, I said, you know, this is it. This is my leap of faith, and I'm going to uh give it a spin. And she said, Oh my god, you're leaving us. And then I was like, Yeah, and she's like, I feel like my high school boyfriend is breaking up with me. You can't go. And I said, No, you're good. You're good. I'll find you somebody. And so you know that will be$12,000. Yeah, exactly. I would love to help. Don't worry.

SPEAKER_02:

I've got that. Where's your chat book?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, exactly. You can make that out to Seaside Nannies, Inc. So that was it, you know, and that was my leap of faith and uh and knock on wood that that was it. So I've been basically running a nanny agency full-time ever since. And we've gone from a hyper local marketplace into a national brand, you know, starting in San Diego, going up into LA, Orange County, and hitting like the Southern California space. And now we launched nationwide after I met you, Shanandoa. Oh huge influence to that for sure.

SPEAKER_02:

So well, that is the most perfect lead-in to what I wanted to talk to you about today, which is friendships and relationships within the industry. Because I, you know, I've talked to probably 15 or 20 families a week. And anytime they mention they're working with someone, I'm like, oh yeah, so and so, they really act surprised as if there were 80,000 nanny agencies, and how could we all know each other? And I think even with nannies and the folks that we work with, sometimes they're surprised that we not only know each other, but like each other.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And I know, I mean, you your seaside sweaters are so cute. And I was just wearing one around all weekend at nanny camp. And people were like, that's the sweater of your competitor. Oh, Dara?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, my buddy, Dara. Right, totally, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And I feel like the industry is in kind of a cool moment right now where it feels like there's more collaboration happening and there's more kind of friendship, and there's more free exchange of ideas and advice and being able to support each other. And so I'm curious because I know to me, it feels like I just met you a few years ago, and then right after that was when you kind of exploded, and now you're on the apna board and you hosted this huge, magnificent International Nanny Training Day event, and you've been such a huge help with Nanny Relief Fund and such a huge help with Nanny Camp. But I'm wondering if you have kind of felt that sea change or what like what relationships with other agency owners felt like 21 years ago versus now.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, so vastly different, right? Oh, God. In fact, you know, it's funny. When I came onto the scene here, there was a nanny agency, and I won't mention their name because they why would you hate me? Um but it was like the owner thought we were taking over her nanny empire, which is really kind of comical. And the reason why she came after us was because we started reaching out to other agencies in Southern California saying, Hey, let's collaborate and hey, let's have some, you know, meetings. I mean, this is how industries evolve. And I I mean, I'm living in a shack in Pacific Beach, and anybody who knows Southern California knows that it is a shack when I say it's a shack. And all of a sudden I got a process server knocking at my door, and I was like, Oh, what? If there's 500 restaurants in Southern California, why can't there be a couple of different nanny agencies? So it was really shocking to me. But that said, I have seen a lot of companies in this area come and go. And what I have found in my journey in being an agency owner over the last 20 years is that you just get so much further when you embrace it's not even your competition, it's somebody who's interested in the same things you are, you know, and those passions of building relationships and friendships. And when you share ideas, it just makes not only your business stronger, but the industry at large stronger. And if you're really invested in the industry and the purpose of this industry, which is helping other people, whether it be a family, whether it be a single individual, you know, doesn't matter, right? But doing it together, it just makes it that much better for everybody. And I've always been of that mindset. But interestingly enough, I think building the business, you get so wrapped up in the day-to-day, especially when, you know, you don't have capital, right? When you're bringing in everything that you're bringing in, you're spending on making it bigger or better, or paying your own rent, or you know, paying your car payments, you know. So but yeah, I mean, uh today, like sitting on the board and feeling like I am doing this for my industry and all the people involved, it makes me feel so much more accomplished as a human being. You know, one of the things that and again, it's funny, I've been a member of Apna for eons, eons, and never went to an apna meeting. Never, just because I didn't have the the money or the time or the headspace to even bother. And the very first one I went to in 2022, I met you and I had seen you showing up all over the place. In fact, I remember in 2016, I think, pretty sure, one of the girls that was working for my business at the time pulled up Adventure Nanny's website, and I was like, Oh my god, that's amazing! They're doing it right, whatever they're doing. And so, of course, stealing that idea of having a video on my landing page was like, you know, and so that was like I think our sixth website that we had built. But yeah, so when I when uh in 2022 and I went to my first apna meeting, uh my apna con first apnea conference, and you were there with Dr. K. And I was just like, oh my god, completely moved on all levels. And as soon as that workshop was over, that you know, she I think she was a keynote speaker actually. I just beelined over to both of you, and I was like, Yeah, I want to be just like you. Like, hello. Like, I know I've been in the industry for eons my entire life and career, but at the end of the day, there was something that resonated with me with the way she presented on stage and knowing who you were, and just it was an instant, like I just couldn't wait to like meet you, and that to me was uh one of like my life-changing moments in in my field.

SPEAKER_02:

So you can be the podcast guest every week. This is great for me. I'm I'm loving this episode very much. It's the truth though, it's the truth. I think it makes such a big difference though, because the industry can be so insular, and there's not like there's not a lot of role models, or there are not like a lot of huge companies really to look up to or to even understand how big your agency could be, because it, you know, it is pretty small, and you know, we're not corporate headhunters, we're not, you know, we're not making hundreds of millions of dollars a year. But I remember I was laughing, uh I was laughing with one of my employees last week because she and I have been working here for 10 years, and I remember so clearly, like five years ago, we're having a meeting at our at my old kitchen table when I lived in Tacoma, and I had just gotten divorced, and I had like this little like total crappy, like just bought my first house. It was a hundred years old, and everything in it was broken, and you could only go upstairs in spring and fall because it was a hundred degrees or it was negative degrees. But we were sitting down and we're kind of like trying to budget and figure out how big we wanted the company to be. And there was another girl there with us, but I asked them, like, how much how much money do you want to make in a year? Like, let's like build this, let's talk about three years out or five years out. And the other woman who was there was like, I want to make a hundred thousand dollars. And we I was like, Okay, cool. And we kept talking about something else for like 30 minutes, and then the other person said, Do you really think it's possible we could make a hundred thousand dollars working here? And I was like, I don't know. At least make a spreadsheet that says it's possible. Like that seems like a good step one, right? Or doing EO accelerator, you know, where they're like the goal is your company to get to a million dollars and just going and thinking, I don't know if a nanny agency can't make a million dollars, like dollars is so much, but being able to to be friends with people and kind of watch them take those big leaps. And I mean, like what you've done in the last few years is incredible, and it you know, and I I know you were working so hard before all of that time, but it feels like like some kind of like dormancy was awoken all of a sudden. It's like, yeah, we're a San Diego agency for 18 years, and now we're a nationwide agency, and we're ever yeah, everyone knows who we are, and I go to everything, and that's so funny.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, again, you know, I was so moved that first conference by just the energy and the collaborative connections with other agency owners, and it really it was life-changing. And I came home that night. I remember the first night I came home from that first day of conference. It wasn't the opening reception, it was the first actual full day of meetings. And I said to my husband, I said, Oh, oh no, we're done. We're totally going nationwide, and you're helping, and you're gonna build this and you're gonna do this, and and I'm gonna do this and do that. And yeah, it's it's crazy. And and I've learned so much from my colleagues, right? And there have been people in this field that are trailblazers and uh people like again that I've always always looked up to. And it's cool because as new agencies coming into this space, they learn from us, and for older agencies, us fossils, you know, we're still learning and we're learning from people that are the movers and shakers and that are are are more maybe business savvy. Like I'm a I'm a I think what I've learned from all of this is that and I've kind of weirdly known this too, but like I'm a creative, right? So at the end of the day, I would love to sit here and make all of my crazy ideas in my head come to life. And I think my journey has been I have this idea and I have a feeling, and I want to take those two things and actually make it come to life. And that's kind of how this kind of has evolved, right? This year uh we sat through a a workshop at conference and we took personality tests, my husband and I, and it was so funny because he's so data driven, and I'm not, I'm like emotionally driven, and it's just so funny how you can take both of those things and and make your vision actually come to life, right? I still flounder in a million different ways as an agency owner with like numbers and things like that, and you know, spreadsheets and all those crazy things. But that's why, you know, I learned from like Wendy Sachs, for example, you know, delegate, delegate, delegate, you know, you too, Shannon Doyer, delegate, you know, Katie Provenzano, do the things you like. Yeah, give somebody else the jobs that you don't like doing, because you know somebody else is going to be better at that job than you are, right?

SPEAKER_02:

And at some point, even if even if you do like everything, or you know, like my struggle over the last 10 years has been kind of tricking myself into thinking, like, well, I'm really good at that. So I like no one else will be as good at it as I am because gosh, I'm just so amazing at this one thing. And you eventually just get too many of those things, and then you just start sucking it every single thing you do because you can be good at everything at once, you know. There's only so many hours and so many brain cells you can burn off talking to whoever you're talking to.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. No, it's true, and you know, there's that element too when we talk about and we talk about this a lot in our space is like boundaries, you know. Nanny's having boundaries, and it's like, well, as an agency owner, I also uh struggle with that concept. And I I don't make time for myself, I work all the time. And my goal in the next you know, three to five years is like we've talked about, come up with that exit strategy and you know, figure that piece out for myself because I have never not had a job since I'm 16 years old. So I don't really know what it's like to be between jobs or without a job or and and being a business owner and an agency owner, there's so many facets to your day, right? It could be talking to a parent, it could be pitching somebody new, it could be working with an employee, it could be hiring somebody and putting ads out online, it could be paying bills, it could be God only knows, right? There's just so many pieces to like what we do every day. And then on top of it, you're like, okay, well, I'm gonna expand and I'm gonna build a new website. And you're like, oh my God, well, now you've got you know website people to deal with and artists and copywriters. And then you're like, well, how do I get into PR? Because I want this to get all over. Oh, I gotta find a PR agency. And like, ah, so there's just so much to it.

SPEAKER_02:

It's it's a lot, but yeah, and it's I mean, because it's your business, it just becomes unlimited work. Like you, I often joke with my employees, you know, or I talk to other business owners and they're like, Oh, yeah, I started my own business because I never wanted to have a boss again. And I and I truly think, like, at least to myself, hopefully, my employees wouldn't say this, but to myself, I'm the worst boss in the world. I I say that all the time. Like, I'm yeah, I I wouldn't, yeah. I I feel bad for the me who has because it always is just like, well, we have to do that now too, and now we also have to do that. And things need to happen today. A thousand, how long will that take? 14 hours? Like, okay, put on your seatbelt. Yeah, we're doing it today. Yeah, exactly. Like, did they all need done today? Yeah, no, probably not. Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_00:

So you say that that's no, what did you say though? That it's part of like that's like the entrepreneurial mindset where it just doesn't stop or turn off, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and that's when it's good to have friends to be like, hey, am I crazy? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Can I bounce this off of you? And they're like, don't do that. Yeah, I just remember I think it was in 2021, or it was right in the thick of COVID when all agencies were kind of just going bananas because the schools were closed and nannying had kind of just become this entirely new beast because nannies were they were teachers and they were housekeepers and they were doing every single thing that existed. But I remember talking to Laura Chandra, who owns Boston Nanny Center, and I was like, and we're changing this, and we're gonna change banks, and we're changing our accounting software, and we're changing this, and we're making this new department, and we're gonna do this, do this thing. And she was just like, We change one thing a year. I was just like, Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, by the way, she's got the cutest logo ever.

SPEAKER_02:

Her logo is adorable.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, I love her logo, it's so perfect. I know, especially football.

SPEAKER_02:

She's wonderful, yeah. Well, I'm curious because I know that nanny's run into this too, like every, you know, everyone runs into this of having, you know, of dealing with comparison or competition over collaboration and kind of struggling to find your people in the industry. And as someone who's whose circle of people has gotten a lot bigger in the last few years, what advice do you have for someone who kind of hasn't hit that inflection point yet or hasn't figured out kind of how to how to be vulnerable and find their people, even if it might feel a little compete-y or you know, somehow like not the thing that you should be doing?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't I you know, I I I honestly I feel like this space is so small, right? So you could sit all day long in your little office and hide, but you're probably not gonna grow, right? And I think being vulnerable is part of growth, truly. And by opening up to meeting other people and sharing ideas, even if you think, oh, this is a trade secret, it probably isn't in all honesty. It's just not the way you grow as a person. And I I I also feel like being my age, you know, I've seen things go from this to that, and I have grown as a human being by allowing myself to take risks and and honestly, by taking risks, I mean, this is this is how we grow. If we take a risk and we fall flounder, awesome. It's a perfect opportunity to learn from that, right? I mean, how many times have you been in a situation like oh gotta change my contract? Uh gotta gotta tweak that one. Uh, you know, this this now has to be put in place because I did this wrong or I failed or I made a mistake. I mean, that's how we we learn and grow. And I think that's the same philosophy when we talk about bringing other agency owners into our life, you know, and and look, at the end of the day, you're not gonna get along with everybody. There might be some issue here and some issue there, but okay, cool. Everywhere has some bad apples, it's okay. Yeah, totally. And I mean, and it's again, it's like, you know, you find friendships, it's like dating, it's the same thing. Like what we do every day is where we're introducing people to other people that are strangers. You know, it just takes one second to like reach out to somebody and be like, Hey, I know you and I are in the same market, but I really think it'd be cool to like let's like get on a zoom together and like just talk, or you know, it's funny. I'm the the chair of masterminds, and uh that it's also has has allowed me to create friendships in this space because we all get on Zoom once a month for apna apna masterminds, and we just shoot the shit and we talk agency stuff, you know? And we we we're like, oh, I'm having this issue, and someone's like, Well, this is what I did for that issue, and then someone's like, Oh my god, that's the best idea. And it's like, cool, like, do that, right? So again, it's like it's not competition, it isn't, it just isn't, you know, and if you if you look at it from that perspective, then it won't ever be right. And it helps when you're open to that and and you know, just being accepting of other people in the space and just kind of understanding where you're at versus where they're at may not be the same place either, right? So maybe you can meet somebody who can help you, or in return, you might meet somebody who you're helping. It's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I like it. Easy just helping people.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Come on just help them. Isn't that what we do to get paid too? I mean, really.

SPEAKER_02:

That's all we do all day. We just help people, just don't stop doing it. If you if you stop working, just don't stop help people. Yeah, exactly. Makes sense to me. Why is it so hard all the time? Geez, exactly, exactly. You just started a podcast with one of my yay. Will you tell me about it, please?

SPEAKER_00:

I would love to. It's so cool. In fact, I cannot wait because you're gonna be one of our guests really soon. So, yeah, so pages and play podcast. I am co-hosting with Monique Dupree. She is known on Instagram as Nanny Miss Monique. She is phenomenal, she is uh early childhood literacy advocate and just a lover of children's literature, which I am as well. Um, I think going to college, again, you know, kids have always been my jam, but going to college and learning about early childhood education and then bringing in the piece of children's lit was just fabulous for me. It was like one of my like really I I I could I could geek out on this stuff all day long, right? So basically, Pages and Play is a two part kind of podcast where we interview. Either a an author, an illustrator, an influencer, a nanny, an agency owner. And we discuss a specific children's book. And then we take the philosophy of the book and we turn it into a hands-on learning experience for children in our care. So pages and play. And so, oh, thank you. Yeah, it's cool. And the funny thing is, is that no one's doing it at all, which is cool, you know. So um, we are in the middle of website build out and you know, all the things, right? So trademarking and lawyering and all the things.

SPEAKER_02:

All the best is starting a podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

For your creative heart, yes, exactly. Beyond Cloud9 with all the lawyers and the trademark and the property, right?

SPEAKER_00:

I we I really, really wish you didn't have to, we didn't have to do all the nonsense, but it we you just do. It's a business at the end of the day. But the coolest thing ever was we've literally launched, we're launching on our second today, I believe. So we launched our very first podcast last week, and we had Victoria Khan on our podcast, who is the author of Pink Alicious. So cool. And you know, Pink Alicious is a pretty solid presence all over the place. P PBS, you know, I mean, like it's now also uh uh Pink Alicious the musical in um New York City, uh Vital Theater is has had the production now for I think I don't know 18 years. So we we put it out there and and you know Steven reached out to us. He owns the theater and he reached out to us and he's like, Oh, you know, we'd love to give away four tickets to Pink Alicious the musical. And so now we did a podcast with him. You'll probably you know see that today. And you know, it's just kind of really cool because people are literally reaching out to us saying, We want to be on your podcast. And we're like, oh wait, whoa, we don't even have our website have yet. This is this is exactly. So it's been really cool. So um, you know, it's it's it's again taking the things that Monique and I are both really passionate about, which is you know children's literature and yeah, kids and helping people, and helping people thanks.

SPEAKER_02:

Um Dara, you're just such a joy to talk to every time.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for getting into it.

SPEAKER_02:

I have two, I have two final questions.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

One is maybe hard, but the second one is easy, so don't worry. It's from my you know, my investigative journalism background. Who would you pick to be your nanny if you were four? Who would I pick to be my nanny if I was four or when you were four and your parents were like, hey kid, you get a nanny, go pick out anyone? Fictional, non-fictional, dead or alive, human or animal, I don't care.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, that is such a hard question. Wow. Sorry. Oh boy, that's really, really hard.

SPEAKER_02:

These days, you you I mean, you could have a rota team. We could build you a rota team. Right, right. Really hard. You have a top two.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll take a top two. You know, I honestly don't know if I could come up with a a a name necessarily. I could tell you the characteristics that I would want as a four-year-old. Okay. I would want somebody, okay. I would want somebody highly engaging who is totally interested in what I was interested in, which would be art, music, music and movement, dramatic play, imagination. I mean, when I say art, I mean everything from tactile art to visual art to going to museums, all that kind of stuff. And somebody who would be like, Come on, let's go have an adventure today and take me to whether it be the zoo or a museum, or you know, just really get me out into the real world. Like, I would love that. And if I was having a meltdown, somebody who would just be like, you know what, cool. I see you're having a rough day. And you're that's cool, that's okay. You're allowed to have feelings and you're allowed to have a meltdown. Bring it on and just let me do my thing, but also give me the space to understand like why that meltdown is okay. And like, just kind of you know, hold my hand through the process, not ignore me, but just allow me the space. I also think that I would really love somebody who understood that being wild and crazy and emotionally charged was part of my independence and allow me that space to be who I am because I think growing up a lot of that stuff was crushed. And so, um, you know, whether it be my school district crushing my soul or you know, saying, Oh, she's emotionally disabled, where you know, they don't do that to kids anymore. Um it's good. I'm glad they don't. Yeah, me too, actually. But it's funny because like when I have a parent and they're like, Oh, my daughter, she's wild. I'm like, cool, awesome, awesome, yeah. Let her be wild. So yeah, that's a kind of nanny I would want. Somebody who just got me and uh understood that creative mindset.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, no one's ever answered that question quite like that before, but I will I'll accept it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's a hard question. That's a really solidly hard question. I mean, like I I could sit here all day and say, Well, I would want a nanny like me, right? But I think you would have to actually ask my charges who are in their 30s having children at this point because they're reaching out to me at booking for nannies, which is really funny and really cool, right? Really cool, yeah. I love that. I know me too.

SPEAKER_02:

Dara, if people want to learn more about you or Seaside or how to find you or the podcast or where to connect, where should they go?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh gosh, they can go anywhere. We're all over the place. Just go somewhere, just find out.

SPEAKER_02:

Just try like follow me.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. No, um, you can go to Seaside Staffing Company, all spelled out very long, but seaside staffingcompany.com. We also have we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. You can find us uh seaside nannies.com. Also, we have a basically a second shop, if you will, but uh we have two storefronts, I guess. So it's different. Seaside nannies.com actually focuses on California and focuses on just nanny space. Uh Seaside Staffing Company is basically our nationwide business that focuses on nine different services, actually. So it's chefs and housekeepers, estate managers, house managers, you know, all the things.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know how you have time to do it. And they'll be such a great friend.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh. Thank you. Wonderful. Can't thank you enough. Really, you've been such a tremendous inspiration, period. And I love what you're doing with everything, with and nanny camp and just everything that you do. And that's why I love it. I love it so much because it resonates with me, which is why I love supporting it. And it's, you know, at the end of the day, to me, it's again, it's about our community at large. And kudos to you for bringing that to life between you and Reagan. I mean, it's brilliant.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. I mean, I you know, I'm a creative too, and I get yeah, I get bored. Yeah. And I have to do more stuff. More stuff. When you own a nanny agency, if you want to not have your attention get like completely fried, you just do more nanny stuff.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Also, nannies, nannies are incredible. Um, you were the very first person to come on board and help us produce nanny camp. So oh my god. We'll always remember.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. Love it. I think too, you know, part of that too is like growing up and going to camp every year. And uh I was, I mean, I went to camp Seneca Lake in upstate New York from the time I was eight until I was 19. Yeah, I mean, I just think that it's this is where you make lifelong friendships, lifelong friendships. And it's it's very true to my heart. I it's really the most brilliant, brilliant concept I've I've heard of yet. So kudos to you. Really amazing.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Well, maybe maybe our next brilliant concept we can come up with together.

SPEAKER_00:

I would love that.

SPEAKER_02:

One of these days. All right. Thank you so much for visiting us, Tara.

SPEAKER_00:

It's an wrap.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much for spending a little bit of your day with us. We'd love to stay connected.

SPEAKER_02:

You can find all of our past episodes and summit sessions on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast fixed.

SPEAKER_01:

For the inside scoop on the latest job opportunities and community stories, you can always find us at adventurenannies.com or come say hi on Instagram, Facebook, or Blue Sky.

SPEAKER_02:

If you loved this episode, we'd be over the moon if you leave us a review. It's a huge help in getting the word out to other folks.

SPEAKER_01:

And if you hated this episode, well, we're sorry. It can't have been that bad if you made it this far, right? We'll catch you next time. Bye.

Head Shot

Reagan Fulton

Host
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Shenandoah Davis

Host
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Dara Yates

Guest

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