We were lucky to catch up with Shelly Scott recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Military life is unpredictable, and finding reliable childcare has always been a challenge.

Recently, we worked with one of our members who was navigating this familiar struggle. She had just relocated to Joint Base Lewis-McChord with her young child and was expecting her second. With her husband, an Army Ranger, frequently deployed, she often found herself alone, managing the household without consistent support.

“I gave birth alone the first time – that’s military life! But for my second, I knew I needed people in my corner,” she shared in her first interview with us.

Despite offering competitive rates, she couldn’t find babysitters who were willing to commit. After exhausting every possible avenue, frustration set in as she continued to struggle with finding reliable care.

That’s when we helped her build her very own Care Squad. This group was made up of other military-affiliated spouses who truly understood her situation, the challenges of military life, and the importance of dependable childcare. With her Care Squad in place, she finally had peace of mind knowing she could rely on trustworthy people at a moment’s notice.

Since then, her Care Squad has not only supported her through her pregnancy and the birth of her second child but has also become a lifeline for other military families in the area.

“GetSidekicks has truly been life-changing,” she said. “I tell anyone who will listen about it, and I hope to see them at every base soon.”

Her story captures what GetSidekicks is all about: connecting military families with the support they need to face the unique challenges of military life. For this member, GetSidekicks provided an instant support network, allowing her to seamlessly plug into a system that was ready and waiting for her, instead of starting from scratch.

Shelly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About Me and How I Got Into This Industry

I’ve always been passionate about solving problems for communities that are overlooked and underserved. Early in my career, I worked in East Africa, but eventually, I realized I wanted to direct my energy towards innovating for people here at home. That’s when I shifted my focus and began working at Intuit, a mission-driven company that empowers small businesses to succeed.

During my ten years at Intuit, I honed my skills in customer-driven innovation, strategy, and M&A. More importantly, I developed “soft” skills—like how to drive business outcomes even when facing resistance, and how to keep teams engaged when confidence starts to waver.

When I left Intuit, I committed to use all that I had learned to start my own company. I wasn’t sure about the problem space or solution, but I trusted the process in using the frameworks of Customer Driven Innovation and Design for Delight. Nine months into searching for a customer problem that I would become obsessed with, I was close to throwing in the towel. Then I had a conversation with my own spouse about his travel schedule. I brought up his parent’s deployment schedule (they were dual military) and compared how easy his one week business trip would be compared to demands that military life had on his parents.

That night, I couldn’t sleep, it was almost as someone was playing, on repeat, back to me the conversation I had with my spouse. I woke up the next morning at 5am and starting searching online to learn about the key challenges of the military community, that was May 11 2023, and I haven’t stopped since.

My background isn’t military, per se. I grew up in Warner Robins, Georgia, a town that essentially existed because of Robins Air Force Base. As a kid, it often felt like if you weren’t in the military, you weren’t living life the right way. As I got older, I came close to joining a few times, but always got cold feet. Living in a military town, especially during wartime, was an intense experience that shaped my perspective in profound ways. I saw my friends and loved ones deploy and return from war, and that experience left a lasting impact on me.

In many ways, focusing my efforts on the military community, especially after what I learned during my time at Intuit, feels like something I was always meant to do. It’s intrinsic to who I am.

What We Provide and the Problems We Solve

Imagine a world where instead of rebuilding your support network with every life change, you could instantly plug into a community of vetted and verified service providers that want to help and understand the military lifestyle. That is the future that GetSidekicks is building: an instant support network for military families. Our mission is to build a global network of military-affiliated service providers — starting with child care. While GetSidekicks is currently focused on serving specific locations, the goal is to eventually support families wherever they are stationed.

Today, GetSidekicks helps you build a “Care Squad,” a trusted group of service providers ready to assist you, no matter what military life throws your way. With direct access to each Sidekick’s calendar, scheduling child care is hassle-free. You can even select a backup provider in case your first choice isn’t available, ensuring you always have reliable child care.

By helping families manage the different layers of childcare they require, we ensure they have the support they need, while also providing Sidekicks with meaningful opportunities to work in a way that suits their own schedules.

What Sets Us Apart

There are three main things: (1) the level of vetting and verification we do, (2) our exclusive focus on solving the unique needs of military families, and (3) the community we are building. Seventy percent of Sidekicks offer hourly rates lower than those typically found in the civilian market, making child care more affordable for military families. Additionally, 90 percent of Sidekicks have expressed willingness to help a family in need for free during emergencies.

What I’m Most Proud Of

I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come in such a short time. We launched at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in May 2024 and reached 95 bookings in just 100 days—without spending a dollar on marketing. But most importantly, we’ve helped military families form their Care Squads and tap into the support system we’ve built.

One of the most meaningful moments for me was hearing from a military spouse who told us that GetSidekicks was a “game-changer” for her family, allowing her to feel supported during her husband’s deployment. Customers have called GetSidekicks “life-changing,” a “lifeline,” and many other powerful things. As an early-stage startup, it’s easy to feel like we’re not moving fast enough—there’s always a desire to grow bigger and scale faster from a product and business perspective. But it’s important to recognize the tremendous positive impact we’re already having. That feedback from our members keeps me grounded and reminds me that the work we’re doing is making a real difference.

What I Want People to Know About GetSidekicks

GetSidekicks is starting with childcare, but that’s just the beginning. Our long-term vision is to create a vast, global network of military service providers so that no matter where in the world a family is stationed, they can quickly plug into GetSidekicks and book the services they need to thrive. Whether it’s finding childcare, home services, or other critical support, we want to ensure that military families never have to start from scratch.

How’d you meet your business partner?

At GetSidekicks, I’m fortunate to have two incredibly talented co-founders: Joe Dennis and Nate Whitaker.

I first met Joe in 2014 when Intuit acquired his company, ItDuzzIt, which simplified the process for businesses to connect over 150+ web and mobile apps. I was working on the developer team, focused on strategic partnerships, and Joe quickly built a reputation for his problem-solving abilities. His knack for simplifying complex challenges made him a standout. Joe left Intuit in 2016 to start another company, but we reconnected in 2024 through a mutual friend. I shared my vision for GetSidekicks, and after seeing early results I had achieved, he joined as our CTO to help bring the vision to life.

Nate Whitaker and I met in 2013, also at Intuit, where he was part of the Rotational Development Program. Nate and I worked on several projects together, and I was always impressed by his methodical approach to solving customer problems. Nate made a name for himself when he launched QuickBooks Online Advanced, addressing a key functionality and price gap in the ERP mid-market. He left Intuit in 2018 to join an early-stage company called Noonlight, where he helped propel it to become America’s #1 personal safety app through the commercialization of Emergency Response APIs. Noonlight backed some of the most innovative home, health, and lifestyle products in the IoT market and was later acquired by Alarm.com. By this time, Nate had become a military spouse himself, and after learning about what I was building with GetSidekicks, he reached out. His deep understanding of product management, design, and customer needs made him a natural fit as a co-founder.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I read this question, I couldn’t help but smile. The initial capital that brought GetSidekicks to life actually came from a hobby business I started called Three Brothers Candles. Toward the end of the COVID lock downs, I was looking for something simple and fun to do with my oldest child, who was four at the time. We needed an activity that didn’t require a lot of planning but would still be engaging. That’s when we started making candles together.

What began as a fun project grew into a small business. We started selling the candles locally, and as it took off, I realized it would be a great way to fund my future startup. So, the seed capital for GetSidekicks came from this unexpected candle-making venture.

But Three Brothers Candles didn’t end when GetSidekicks began! I transferred the business to my mom, who still runs it today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.getsidekicks.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5h311y_official/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetSidekicks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyscottsanderson/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GetSidekicks

Image Credits

Image Credit: Dawit Kadine