บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Collaboration Over Competition with Dara Yates

about togetherness, this conversation just felt right. 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:06.439 I cannot wait to hear it. 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:11.000 So here is Shenandoah's conversation with the amazing Dara Yates. 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:21.319 Hi, Dara. 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:23.639 Hi, Shenandoah. 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:26.199 I'm so excited to be here with you. 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:27.480 This is so fun. 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:36.360 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. 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:38.279 Just tell us everything, please. 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:39.560 Okay, sure. 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:40.040 Okay. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.079 Um, gosh, well, let's see. 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:48.600 Um I have had seaside for 21 years. 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:54.199 I started it in my little shack in Pacific Beach in Southern California and San Diego. 00:06:54.439 --> 00:07:04.759 Originally I am from upstate New York, but I left when I was 27 uh with$1,200 to my name and a boyfriend. 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:05.480 Yeah. 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:06.600 And two dogs. 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:09.399 So it was Camp Chaos on the way out of New York. 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:21.160 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. 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:29.480 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. 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:31.720 And I said, Okay, sure. 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:34.519 So she picked me up from the airport. 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:45.800 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. 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:47.240 And I said, I'm sold. 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.160 So I've been here ever since. 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:51.720 And uh that's 30 years. 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:53.399 That's that's a long time. 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:53.800 Yeah. 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:56.360 Somewhere I've never lived somewhere for 30 years. 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:57.000 Yeah. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:02.360 Well, I kind of took a little bit of a brief stint in in Europe, which was wonderful. 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:11.079 But uh yeah, I mean, I started Seaside um just for the simple fact that I was being pulled off the playground. 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:13.079 I was teaching preschool for a little bit. 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:17.000 I taught for about nine years between two facilities in La Jolla as well. 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:25.959 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? 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:27.959 Hey, what are you doing this summer? 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:29.959 Hey, do you want to travel with us? 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.240 And I got to spend summers in Aspen. 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:41.879 I uh was able to do after school pickups and drop-offs and date nights and so forth and so on. 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:53.559 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. 00:08:53.639 --> 00:09:01.320 And uh the first two years I had my company, I did all those things simultaneously, and it ended up taking off. 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:05.000 And I think I guess I was uh 2006. 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:18.840 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. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.440 And that was my leap of faith. 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:23.480 I I went to the mom that I was working for at that point, full time. 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:29.720 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. 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:32.519 And I said to the mom, I said, you know, this is it. 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.200 This is my leap of faith, and I'm going to uh give it a spin. 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.559 And she said, Oh my god, you're leaving us. 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:43.720 And then I was like, Yeah, and she's like, I feel like my high school boyfriend is breaking up with me. 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:44.919 You can't go. 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:47.720 And I said, No, you're good. 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:48.200 You're good. 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:49.320 I'll find you somebody. 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.879 And so you know that will be$12,000. 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:53.159 Yeah, exactly. 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:54.440 I would love to help. 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:55.159 Don't worry. 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:56.120 I've got that. 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:58.120 Where's your chat book? 00:09:58.279 --> 00:09:59.480 Yeah, exactly. 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:02.360 You can make that out to Seaside Nannies, Inc. 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:07.799 So that was it, you know, and that was my leap of faith and uh and knock on wood that that was it. 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:12.679 So I've been basically running a nanny agency full-time ever since. 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:24.759 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. 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:29.799 And now we launched nationwide after I met you, Shanandoa. 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:33.399 Oh huge influence to that for sure. 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:43.879 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. 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:49.080 Because I, you know, I've talked to probably 15 or 20 families a week. 00:10:49.320 --> 00:11:00.360 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? 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:09.159 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. 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:10.039 Right. 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:11.159 Yeah. 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:15.879 And I know, I mean, you your seaside sweaters are so cute. 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:19.639 And I was just wearing one around all weekend at nanny camp. 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:23.799 And people were like, that's the sweater of your competitor. 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:26.120 Oh, Dara? 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:28.200 Yeah, my buddy, Dara. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:30.600 Right, totally, yeah. 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:45.879 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. 00:11:45.960 --> 00:12:05.320 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. 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:17.080 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. 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:20.600 Oh, so vastly different, right? 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:21.799 Oh, God. 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:24.279 In fact, you know, it's funny. 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:33.399 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? 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:43.320 Um but it was like the owner thought we were taking over her nanny empire, which is really kind of comical. 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:57.399 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. 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.039 I mean, this is how industries evolve. 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:08.279 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. 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:13.559 And all of a sudden I got a process server knocking at my door, and I was like, Oh, what? 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:19.240 If there's 500 restaurants in Southern California, why can't there be a couple of different nanny agencies? 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:22.279 So it was really shocking to me. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:28.600 But that said, I have seen a lot of companies in this area come and go. 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:48.759 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. 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:55.879 And when you share ideas, it just makes not only your business stronger, but the industry at large stronger. 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:10.600 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? 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:15.159 But doing it together, it just makes it that much better for everybody. 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:18.440 And I've always been of that mindset. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:29.799 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? 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:40.039 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. 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:56.759 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. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:04.759 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. 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:12.120 Never, just because I didn't have the the money or the time or the headspace to even bother. 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:20.200 And the very first one I went to in 2022, I met you and I had seen you showing up all over the place. 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:36.440 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. 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:46.360 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. 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:56.759 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. 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:57.159 K. 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:02.679 And I was just like, oh my god, completely moved on all levels. 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:07.960 And as soon as that workshop was over, that you know, she I think she was a keynote speaker actually. 00:16:08.200

--> 00:16:12.759 I just beelined over to both of you, and I was like, Yeah, I want to be just like you. 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:13.559 Like, hello. 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:34.679 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. 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.799 So you can be the podcast guest every week. 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:39.639 This is great for me. 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.759 I'm I'm loving this episode very much. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.320 It's the truth though, it's the truth. 00:16:45.639 --> 00:17:14.599 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. 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:36.920 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. 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:45.480 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. 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:52.839 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. 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:58.599 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? 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:03.160 Like, let's like build this, let's talk about three years out or five years out. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:06.680 And the other woman who was there was like, I want to make a hundred thousand dollars. 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:08.200 And we I was like, Okay, cool. 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:18.920 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? 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.400 And I was like, I don't know. 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.279 At least make a spreadsheet that says it's possible. 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:28.519 Like that seems like a good step one, right? 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:46.680 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. 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:59.000 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. 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:08.680 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. 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:25.160 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. 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:26.839 And I came home that night. 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:31.960 I remember the first night I came home from that first day of conference. 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:35.799 It wasn't the opening reception, it was the first actual full day of meetings. 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:39.240 And I said to my husband, I said, Oh, oh no, we're done. 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:46.279 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. 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:48.680 And yeah, it's it's crazy. 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:53.799 And and I've learned so much from my colleagues, right? 00:19:54.279 --> 00:20:04.200 And there have been people in this field that are trailblazers and uh people like again that I've always always looked up to. 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:24.920 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. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:33.160 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? 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:40.599 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. 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:53.880 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. 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:58.039 And that's kind of how this kind of has evolved, right? 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:20.920 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? 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:29.079 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. 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:42.359 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. 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:49.880 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? 00:21:50.119 --> 00:22:01.000 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. 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:07.880 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. 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:16.119 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. 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:23.880 There's only so many hours and so many brain cells you can burn off talking to whoever you're talking to. 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:24.920 That's right. 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:32.680 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. 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:39.480 Nanny's having boundaries, and it's like, well, as an agency owner, I also uh struggle with that concept. 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:43.079 And I I don't make time for myself, I work all the time. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:57.400 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. 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:09.319 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? 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:24.039 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? 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.720 There's just so many pieces to like what we do every day. 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:31.799 And then on top of it, you're like, okay, well, I'm gonna expand and I'm gonna build a new website. 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:37.640 And you're like, oh my God, well, now you've got you know website people to deal with and artists and copywriters. 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.279 And then you're like, well, how do I get into PR? 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:41.640 Because I want this to get all over. 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:43.319 Oh, I gotta find a PR agency. 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:46.599 And like, ah, so

there's just so much to it. 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:53.640 It's it's a lot, but yeah, and it's I mean, because it's your business, it just becomes unlimited work. 00:23:53.880 --> 00:24:04.839 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. 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:13.880 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. 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:16.279 I I say that all the time. 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:19.079 Like, I'm yeah, I I wouldn't, yeah. 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:26.279 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. 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:28.279 And things need to happen today. 00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:29.720 A thousand, how long will that take? 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:30.519 14 hours? 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:32.680 Like, okay, put on your seatbelt. 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:34.759 Yeah, we're doing it today. 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:35.960 Yeah, exactly. 00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:38.759 Like, did they all need done today? 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:41.160 Yeah, no, probably not. 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:42.599 Yeah, totally. 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:45.319 So you say that that's no, what did you say though? 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:52.839 That it's part of like that's like the entrepreneurial mindset where it just doesn't stop or turn off, right? 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.920 Yeah, and that's when it's good to have friends to be like, hey, am I crazy? 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:58.839 Yeah, yeah, exactly. 00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:00.440 Can I bounce this off of you? 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:02.359 And they're like, don't do that. 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:27.079 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. 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:40.039 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. 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:44.920 And she was just like, We change one thing a year. 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:50.680 I was just like, Oh, wow. 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:54.119 Okay, by the way, she's got the cutest logo ever. 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:55.559 Her logo is adorable. 00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:58.920 Oh my god, I love her logo, it's so perfect. 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:00.839 I know, especially football. 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:02.519 She's wonderful, yeah. 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:22.200 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. 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:47.079 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? 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:53.400 I don't I you know, I I I honestly I feel like this space is so small, right? 00:26:53.720 --> 00:27:00.759 So you could sit all day long in your little office and hide, but you're probably not gonna grow, right? 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:06.599 And I think being vulnerable is part of growth, truly. 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:17.720 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. 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:21.880 It's just not the way you grow as a person. 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:40.119 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. 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:43.720 If we take a risk and we fall flounder, awesome. 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:46.920 It's a perfect opportunity to learn from that, right? 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:50.920 I mean, how many times have you been in a situation like oh gotta change my contract? 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:53.720 Uh gotta gotta tweak that one. 00:27:53.960 --> 00:28:02.200 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. 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:04.920 I mean, that's how we we learn and grow. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:15.079 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. 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:21.559 There might be some issue here and some issue there, but okay, cool. 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.359 Everywhere has some bad apples, it's okay. 00:28:24.839 --> 00:28:25.960 Yeah, totally. 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:30.920 And I mean, and it's again, it's like, you know, you find friendships, it's like dating, it's the same thing. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:35.400 Like what we do every day is where we're introducing people to other people that are strangers. 00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:50.920 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. 00:28:51.079 --> 00:29:09.799 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? 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:18.519 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. 00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:22.039 And it's like, cool, like, do that, right? 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:32.119 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. 00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:46.680 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? 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:54.039 So maybe you can meet somebody who can help you, or in return, you might meet somebody who you're helping. 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:55.480 It's kind of cool. 00:29:55.880 --> 00:29:57.160 Yeah, I like it. 00:29:57.720 --> 00:29:59.720 Easy just helping people. 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:02.440 Yeah. 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:04.599 Come on just help them. 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:08.119 Isn't that what we do to get paid too? 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:08.680 I mean, really. 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:10.119 That's all we do all day. 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:12.359 We just help people, just don't stop doing it. 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:15.400 If you if you stop working, just don't stop help people. 00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:16.759 Yeah, exactly. 00:30:17.240 --> 00:30:18.039 Makes sense to me. 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:19.480 Why is it so hard all the time? 00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:22.599 Geez, exactly, exactly. 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.079 You just started a podcast with one of my yay. 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:30.599 Will you tell me about it, please? 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:32.119 I would love to. 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:33.160 It's so cool. 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:37.000 In fact, I cannot wait because you're gonna be one of our guests really soon. 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.680 So, yeah, so pages and play podcast. 00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:44.440 I am co-hosting with Monique Dupree. 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:49.319 She is known on Instagram as Nanny Miss Monique. 00:30:49.799 --> 00:31:00.519 She is phenomenal, she is uh early childhood literacy advocate and just a lover of children's literature, which I am as well. 00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:15.160 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. 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:20.680 It was like one of my like really I I I could I could geek out on this stuff all day long, right? 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:26.680 So basically, Pages and Play is a two part kind of podcast where we interview. 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:35.319 Either a an author, an illustrator, an influencer, a nanny, an agency owner. 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:39.240 And we discuss a specific children's book. 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:46.920 And then we take the philosophy of the book and we turn it into a hands-on learning experience for children in our care. 00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:49.079 So pages and play. 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:51.880 And so, oh, thank you. 00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:53.079 Yeah, it's cool. 00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:59.160 And the funny thing is, is that no one's doing it at all, which is cool, you know. 00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:05.960 So um, we are in the middle of website build out and you know, all the things, right? 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:10.519 So trademarking and lawyering and all the things. 00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:13.000 All the best is starting a podcast. 00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:13.799 Yeah, exactly. 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:17.240 For your creative heart, yes, exactly. 00:32:19.319 --> 00:32:25.559 Beyond Cloud9 with all the lawyers and the trademark and the property, right? 00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:30.839 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. 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:32.599 It's a business at the end of the day. 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:41.000 But the coolest thing ever was we've literally launched, we're launching on our second today, I believe. 00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:51.319 So we launched our very first podcast last week, and we had Victoria Khan on our podcast, who is the author of Pink Alicious. 00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:52.599 So cool. 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:57.720 And you know, Pink Alicious is a pretty solid presence all over the place. 00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:12.359 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. 00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:17.000 So we we put it out there and and you know Steven reached out to us. 00:33:17.079 --> 00:33:23.640 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. 00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:26.039 And so now we did a podcast with him. 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:28.039 You'll probably you know see that today. 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:35.880 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. 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:39.559 And we're like, oh wait, whoa, we don't even have our website have yet. 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:44.119 This is this is exactly. 00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:45.799 So it's been really cool. 00:33:45.960 --> 00:34:00.759 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. 00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:05.160 Um Dara, you're just such a joy to talk to every time. 00:34:05.640 --> 00:34:07.319 Thank you for getting into it. 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:10.199 I have two, I have two final questions. 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:10.840 Yeah. 00:34:11.239 --> 00:34:14.679 One is maybe hard, but the second one is easy, so don't worry. 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:19.239 It's from my you know, my investigative journalism background. 00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:26.440 Who would you pick to be your nanny if you were four? 00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:39.800 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? 00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:46.119 Fictional, non-fictional, dead or alive, human or animal, I don't care. 00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:49.320 Oh my god, that is such a hard question. 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:51.000 Wow. 00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:51.880 Sorry. 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:55.239 Oh boy, that's really, really hard. 00:34:56.760 --> 00:34:59.159 These days, you you I mean, you could have a rota team. 00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:00.360 We could build you a rota team. 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:00.920 Right, right. 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:02.199 Really hard. 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:04.039 You have a top two. 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:05.400 I'll take a top two. 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:11.639 You know, I honestly don't know if I could come up with a a a name necessarily. 00:35:11.800 --> 00:35:15.880 I could tell you the characteristics that I would want as a four-year-old. 00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:16.280 Okay. 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:18.440 I would want somebody, okay. 00:35:18.760 --> 00:35:32.599 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. 00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:41.320 I mean, when I say art, I mean everything from tactile art to visual art to going to museums, all that kind of stuff. 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:53.960 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. 00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:55.719 Like, I would love that. 00:35:56.280 --> 00:36:01.559 And if I was having a meltdown, somebody who would just be like, you know what, cool. 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:03.400 I see you're having a rough day. 00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:05.480 And you're that's cool, that's okay. 00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:08.920 You're allowed to have feelings and you're allowed to have a meltdown. 00:36:09.079 --> 00:36:18.920 Bring it on and just let me do my thing, but also give me the space to understand like why that meltdown is okay. 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:27.320 And like, just kind of you know, hold my hand through the process, not ignore me, but just allow me the space. 00:36:27.559 -->

00:36:50.199 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. 00:36:50.840 --> 00:37:04.760 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. 00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:06.119 Um it's good. 00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:07.320 I'm glad they don't. 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:09.480 Yeah, me too, actually. 00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:14.920 But it's funny because like when I have a parent and they're like, Oh, my daughter, she's wild. 00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:19.000 I'm like, cool, awesome, awesome, yeah. 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:20.599 Let her be wild. 00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:23.880 So yeah, that's a kind of nanny I would want. 00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:28.440 Somebody who just got me and uh understood that creative mindset. 00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:34.280 Okay, no one's ever answered that question quite like that before, but I will I'll accept it. 00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:35.800 It's it's a hard question. 00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:38.519 That's a really solidly hard question. 00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:42.760 I mean, like I I could sit here all day and say, Well, I would want a nanny like me, right? 00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:53.559 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? 00:37:53.960 --> 00:37:55.239 Really cool, yeah. 00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:56.199 I love that. 00:37:56.360 --> 00:37:57.320 I know me too. 00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:04.280 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? 00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:06.119 Oh gosh, they can go anywhere. 00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:07.719 We're all over the place. 00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:10.280 Just go somewhere, just find out. 00:38:10.840 --> 00:38:12.199 Just try like follow me. 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:12.760 Yeah. 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:20.599 No, um, you can go to Seaside Staffing Company, all spelled out very long, but seaside staffingcompany.com. 00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:24.840 We also have we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. 00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.840 You can find us uh seaside nannies.com. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:35.159 Also, we have a basically a second shop, if you will, but uh we have two storefronts, I guess. 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:36.119 So it's different. 00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:42.840 Seaside nannies.com actually focuses on California and focuses on just nanny space. 00:38:43.079 --> 00:38:52.039 Uh Seaside Staffing Company is basically our nationwide business that focuses on nine different services, actually. 00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:58.119 So it's chefs and housekeepers, estate

managers, house managers, you know, all the things. 00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:00.039 I don't know how you have time to do it. 00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:02.519 And they'll be such a great friend. 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:03.159 Oh. 00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:06.199 Thank you. 00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:06.840 Wonderful. 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:07.880 Can't thank you enough. 00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:12.599 Really, you've been such a tremendous inspiration, period. 00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:18.360 And I love what you're doing with everything, with and nanny camp and just everything that you do. 00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:19.880 And that's why I love it. 00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:24.440 I love it so much because it resonates with me, which is why I love supporting it. 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:29.239 And it's, you know, at the end of the day, to me, it's again, it's about our community at large. 00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:32.920 And kudos to you for bringing that to life between you and Reagan. 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:33.880 I mean, it's brilliant. 00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:34.519 Thank you. 00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:39.480 I mean, I you know, I'm a creative too, and I get yeah, I get bored. 00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:40.519 Yeah. 00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:42.440 And I have to do more stuff. 00:39:42.599 --> 00:39:43.079 More stuff. 00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:51.880 When you own a nanny agency, if you want to not have your attention get like completely fried, you just do more nanny stuff. 00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:52.440 Right. 00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:55.239 Also, nannies, nannies are incredible. 00:39:55.559 --> 00:40:00.360 Um, you were the very first person to come on board and help us produce nanny camp. 00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:01.639 So oh my god. 00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:03.559 We'll always remember. 00:40:03.800 --> 00:40:04.280 Thank you. 00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:05.079 Love it. 00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:09.159 I think too, you know, part of that too is like growing up and going to camp every year. 00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:16.360 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. 00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:25.480 Yeah, I mean, I just think that it's this is where you make lifelong friendships, lifelong friendships. 00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:28.360 And it's it's very true to my heart. 00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:33.159 I it's really the most brilliant, brilliant concept I've I've heard of yet. 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:35.079 So kudos to you. 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:36.599 Really amazing. 00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:37.239 Thank you. 00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:41.079 Well, maybe maybe our next brilliant concept we can come up with together. 00:40:41.320 --> 00:40:42.039 I would love that. 00:40:42.280 --> 00:40:43.400 One of these days. 00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:44.119 All right. 00:40:44.280 --> 00:40:46.199 Thank you so much for visiting us, Tara. 00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:53.320 It's an wrap. 00:40:53.559 --> 00:40:56.199 Thank you so much for spending a little bit of your day with us. 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:57.880 We'd love to stay connected. 00:40:58.039 --> 00:41:05.320 You can find all of our past episodes and summit sessions on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast fixed. 00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:14.440 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. 00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:18.119 If you loved this episode, we'd be over the moon if you leave us a review. 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:21.000 It's a huge help in getting the word out to other folks. 00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:24.119 And if you hated this episode, well, we're sorry. 00:41:24.280 --> 00:41:26.599 It can't have been that bad if you made it this far, right? 00:41:26.760 --> 00:41:28.119 We'll catch you next time. 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:29.079 Bye.