We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kayla Corbitt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Helping Military Families apply for and find affordable child care is something I have done for many years. At a recent duty station I was able to create an actual program for the local families to streamline the process. I was thrilled, no one had attempted anything like it before and it was one of the biggest pain points in readiness. The pandemic slowed the roll out of that program and ultimately made it difficult for families to access it. My spouse is still active-duty, only a few months after the roll out we received orders to relocate to San Antonio, Texas. I started the process of setting up our lives in a new location again, building a foundation from scratch. It was here that I realized if I made this a business, I would never have to restart again, I could just build.

I enlisted the assistance of another child care advocate and we brainstormed our way into Operation Child Care. I purchased the domain, set up the email addresses, and laid out our mission and values. I began networking with the local community to start a pilot program for nanny care. A reporter connected with me and wanted to share my story. Shortly after the release of that article I went from, “figuring it out” to, “we are doing it”. It has been heads down and no sleep since that moment.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m Kayla Corbitt, an active-duty military spouse, and child care advocate. I had been a Military Spouse for only a few years before being truly thrown into the full MilSpouse life. Our first overseas stationing was in Italy in 2016; it was a culture shock. Not due to the locals or the climate, but rather, the way the branding of support for Military Families did not seem to match our reality. I founded Operation Child Care, the first user-friendly child care information sharing network and the first nanny referral agency exclusive to DoD-affiliated families. This service is a turnkey solution to our current child care crisis.

My first relocation after having children was to the National Capital Region, where I found myself in the same situation that all Military Families with young children find themselves in, hunting for childcare. I say hunting and not searching because search implies the solution is there and you must simply stumble upon it. Hunt is the better metaphor for this because there are feelings of frustration, defeat, and huge losses of time, and just when you think you are on to something, you check the price tag.

Operation Child Care or OCC for those who have come to live and die by acronyms is first and foremost an information-sharing service. Over 60% of licensed commercial and in-home centers are not listed online, until now thanks to our program. Using our new search portal, families can see what they qualify for (and can expect) within seconds.

A family receives instantaneous results through an initial search using only a few demographic options. Our information never requires a login. They will be able to toggle down through options like subsidy, hours of service, and current availability. The accessibility of this information saves weeks, if not months, of frustration. Families will know EXACTLY what to expect, even if that means care isn’t available. This brings us to another part of what Operation Child Care does, fill the childcare gap for Military Families.

Using 2021 data, we know that full-time child care is cost-prohibitive for the vast majority of Military Families and Veterans without subsidies. The most recent data shows that the DOD only subsidizes child care for approximately 38% of families. OCC fills the child care gap that occurs when a family relocates by offering care providers to families that would otherwise need to quit or reduce their employment. The alternative could be to wait for months if not years to access subsidized care. The average nanny costs a family approximately $600 a week. Operation Child Care drastically reduces this cost by allowing families to participate in a nanny share either with another family or with the nanny themselves.

With the highest unemployment rate of any national demographic and approximately $5,000 in unreimbursed expenses with every move, Military Spouses often have to accept whatever position they can to make ends meet or continue to struggle because they cannot access care that would allow them to work. Operation Child Care contracts exclusively with DOD-affiliated personnel to give this demographic a boost in options. Since most of our families only need temporary care, this allows Military Spouses to make an income while searching for other employment if child care is not their long term goal. Working as a nanny also allows spouses to qualify for subsidized child care for their children.

The core of most if not all issues that military families face is child care. Without access to reliable care families struggle financially and are no longer able to access employment. OCC believes that if we want to improve the quality of life and mission readiness of our military, we begin with child care.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A common saying that military spouses hear is that we knew what we were getting into when we chose this life. It is inaccurate and frustrating for many reasons, there is no way to know what this type of life would bring. I had an entire life before I met my spouse. I had just finished my Masters Degree, I was living in a new city and climbing the ladder. If someone had said, “Hey Kayla, if you fall in love with this guy you will deplete your savings account with moves, your income will be 1/3rd of what it is now and you will need to fight for it, and you will be alone a lot”, I probably would have thought the first date through. Since there is of course no way for anyone to know what your life will look like when everything changes, I learned to pivot quickly. I became an expert in many fields and learned to expect the unexpected. We now have two perfect children and a wonderful marriage. It is only through the constant pivoting that we are able to make this work.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The military community while vast, is tight-knit. We are skeptical of outsiders, especially when they claim they want to help and it won’t cost us anything. Due to the lifestyle and needs of those within the DoD community, we are at a higher risk of bring taken advantage of. Since I was already in a military family, and active within the community, I made quicker progress than others who need to break that barrier. I understood the struggles, I knew to listen, and I actually used the feedback I was given. We firmly believe in building from the bottom up, we learn from the experience of those around us.

Contact Info:

• Website: operationchildcare.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/operationchildcare/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Operation.Child.Care
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-child-care