Alexis Stanley is a nurse at the Methodist Hospital in Gary. Working odd, random 12-hour shifts throughout the week, as her husband works his own full-time job, while trying to find childcare was becoming more difficult than treating the high-trauma patients in the Emergency Room of the hospital.
She and her husband have three kids – an eight-month-old, a two-year-old, and a six-year-old – but no peace of mind when it came to finding quality childcare that could work with their unsystematic schedules. So, Stanley decided to solve the problem herself and in 2016 she launched her business, The Nanny Team.
Stanley moved to Northwest Indiana from a suburb in Chicago after attending Purdue University and meeting her now husband who grew up in Hammond.
“I fell in love with Indiana and we decided we needed to start our family here,” she said.
Once they moved here, now living in Merrillville, Stanley began working as a Registered Nurse at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Crown Point, then she moved to the DaVita Dialysis Center in Hammond, before transferring to Methodist.
“My mom was a nurse, my grandmother, a few cousins, aunts,” she said. “It (nursing) really runs in the family.”
Her family was one inspiration for the career, but all her life Stanley has had this devotion for helping others, she said.
“I have this innate drive to help people all the time,” she said. “I can be randomly in the grocery store and see an elderly man struggle to bag his own groceries and in the past I have been known to walk over and help him. I have always had this something in me to help out and that’s what made me want to go into nursing.”
With her job as a nurse and looking for childcare, she just couldn’t find anything that had the flexibility she needed. Plus, she knew she couldn’t be the only mother in this no-win situation, she said. So, driven by her love of her kids and a desire to provide the best care for them, she started her agency.
The Nanny Team first started in February 2016 and already has about 25 clients, 50 nannies, and in Stanley’s opinion has made a pretty good profit in just half a year.
When she was looking for a nanny, there were several ways to do so, she said, which included word of mouth or through an online website.
Some of these websites, she said, do not interview the nannies, do not provide background checks, and charge the family more than is needed just to search and place the nanny into a household.
In contrast, The Nanny Team employees are interviewed by Stanley, have numerous background and driving checks, and are required to have all updated CPR and First Aid qualifications. More information on the process can be found on her website.
What makes her business so important though is being able to offer the security for both the nannies and the families.
“It has been a very rewarding experience to be able to provide jobs for those who need jobs and to provide childcare families who need childcare and not just run of the mill, pick someone off the street,” she said. “I am talking quality childcare. People who really care about kids.”
Through the entire process of hiring a nanny, taking on a family client, and then placing the two together, Stanley is there, making sure everyone is happy and comfortable. She is also forming relationships with everyone in the mix, which maintains throughout the entire affair.
“I meet so many people and there are so many good people in this world who have changed my outlook and view of the world around me,” she claimed. “Meeting so many nannies, and so many good families who love their kids is the best part.”
Stanley works on her business as a full-time job throughout the week and works her 12-hour shifts at the hospital every weekend so, every other moment she has to spare goes toward her children and family time.
She is busy, yes. Having two jobs, plus motherhood is busy and hard, yes, but she doesn’t look at her life as work. Instead, she looks at her responsibilities as hobbies, or the passions that keep her motivated to improve each day.
She loves being able to help families in the community she now calls her permanent home.
“The schools are great here, the people are great here,” she said. “There are certain parts of Northwest Indiana that are very diverse, which makes it a great place to raise well-rounded children.”
As every mother knows, the goal is to keep your children happy, healthy, and safe, and that is how Stanley runs her business.
“I want to make sure Mom and Dad are happy,” she said.
For more information on Alexis Stanley and her business, The Nanny Team go to www.nannyteam.com or call 219-595-8700.