We recently connected with Anna Kate Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Anna Kate, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to provide parents with reliable childcare in a way that makes them feel safe, knowing their children will be well cared for. Because all of our sitters are in the healthcare field, CPR certified, and have undergone our interview selection process, we are able to give parents an extra sense of comfort. We also have each client complete a family application before we admit them to the Nurse Nanny community, so we’ll understand what is important to them and any specific needs their children may have.

I babysat throughout my early adulthood and currently work as a pediatric nurse, so this mission is something that is personal to me. My work is a constant reminder of the importance of reliable childcare and early-development relationships. I have found such joy knowing we can serve families by providing their children with great care from quality young women.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am from Jackson, MS and now live in Memphis, TN where I work as a registered nurse at Le Bonheur Children’s hospital. I have always had a passion for children. This passion led me to countless babysitting jobs from high school, through my college years at Ole Miss, to my time in nursing school at UMMC, and to the present. Parents would often tell me they loved the fact I was studying to be a nurse as it “made them feel safe”. I valued the relationships I was building with these families and the peace of mind I was able to provide them. Once I started my full-time job it became evident that I would not be able to babysit as frequently as I once did. I still wanted to provide care to these families somehow. So in May of 2022, I started my business, Nurse Nanny.

Nurse Nanny is a babysitting company and tight-knit group of young women who, like me, are passionate about children. With over 50 sitters across 3 cities, we are able to provide consistent babysitting services to parents in need every single week. It can be difficult to find reliable and safe sitters, but for the past two and a half years, Nurse Nanny has been able to provide just that.

The main differentiators are that our sitters have a healthcare background and are CPR certified. However, another special thing about us is that the management team and I are in close contact with our sitters and our clients and communicate with them often. We have casual get-togethers with our sitters, many of whom have become friends thanks to the Nurse Nanny community. And several of our client families have developed their own special friendships with our sitters. We pride ourselves on being a community focused on fostering relationships. That passion naturally translates to employees taking pride in their work and going the extra mile for the client.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I grew up a very type A, determined, and competitive young girl believing failing was not an option for me. Of course, there were times I did fail, but instead of giving myself grace and viewing failure as an opportunity to try a different approach, I beat myself into the ground, believing that one failure defined me.

However, when I decided to start a business on my own as a 23 year old with only a science background and zero business, accounting, or finance experience, I realized I was going to have to let that outlook on life go. If I were going to do this, I would have to get comfortable with occasional, and sometimes frequent, failure.

Growing up with three brothers in an athletic and competitive household, one thing I heard often was “when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” Paraphrasing that as an entrepreneur, I might say, “when you fail, don’t fail to learn the lesson.” Or, as Thomas Edison famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

What I have found is that remaining humble and approachable is the best tactic to successfully manage a team. I have taken a “lead from the back” approach and always want my team to feel they can come to me with any questions they have or obstacles they come across. I communicate with them often and am always available to discuss any questions or concerns. They understand their value within the organization through the opportunities they are presented along with yearly compensation conversations. This, along with the aforementioned community oriented events helps keep morale high. We have a strong team environment where support and positivity is encouraged.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nursenanny.net/