December 12, 2023 • 28 mins
Whats the best way a company can help support their working parents?
In this episode, William Tincup interviews Lynn Perkins, the CEO and co-founder of UrbanSitter. They discuss the use case and business case for why customers and prospects use UrbanSitter, a service that helps families and care providers connect. Lynn reveals that UrbanSitter serves both individuals and corporate teams as a benefit. She emphasizes the importance of addressing the top stressors for working parents, such as juggling work and home responsibilities, and provides insights into how UrbanSitter leverages technology to create a safer way for families to connect.
Lynn also shares the company's vetting process for care providers, which includes background checks, peer recommendations, and displaying their statistics. She highlights the significance of trust and recommendations in the offline world, and how UrbanSitter has built that into the platform. Whether you are a working parent seeking care solutions or an HR professional interested in supporting employees, this podcast episode offers helpful perspectives and ideas for improving care options and reducing stress for working families.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
William Tincup (00:25):
This is William Tincup, and you're listening to
the Use Case Podcast.
Today, we have Lynn Onn fromUrban Center.
We'll be learning all about theuse case of the business case
for why customers and prospectsuse.
UrbanSitter.
Lynn, would you do us a favorand introduce yourself?
Lynn Perkins (00:40):
Yes.
Thank you for having me.
I'm Lynn Perkins.
I'm the CEO and co founder ofUrbanSitter.
We're a service that helpsfamilies and care providers
connect.
We work with individuals and asa corporate benefit that teams
can offer to their employees aswell.
William Tincup (00:58):
I love it.
I especially love the corporateside of it and seeing it as a
benefit.
Recently, uh, talked to somebodywhere they provide, they
provide, uh, it's cleaning.
So basically what they do for alot of their employees, all
their employees, actually, it'sa benefit for all their
employees is they have housecleaners.
(01:20):
So twice, twice a month, housecleaners, you know, uh, come by
and clean the house.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Yeah.
I mean, when he told me that,I'm like, That's just a really
cool benefit.
That's actually a benefit.
That's something that I woulduse.
It's something that somebodywould use.
And I could see where peoplewould use sitters as well.
If people need to get away, notsay getting away from their
(01:43):
kids, but they need some timeaway and having someone Come in
and, uh, take care of theirkids.
I
Lynn Perkins (01:50):
think that'd be great.
Absolutely.
And it's not surprising to mewhen you talk to that company,
um, that that benefit's beenwell received because 40 percent
of working parents that wesurveyed do in fact say that
juggling Work and homeresponsibilities is their top
stressor and so whether that'schild care or pet care,
(02:12):
housecleaning, you name it,those are, that definitely lines
up with the data that I've seenas well.
William Tincup (02:17):
So, uh, how did you, how'd you come to start,
uh, the company or?
Co founder of the company.
Lynn Perkins (02:23):
I started it about 15 years ago with two co
founders and we really wanted toaddress this stressful moment
where a family needs to findsomebody.
Uh, originally it was justfocused on children.
Now we do more, but thestressful moment where families
are looking to find somebody totake care of their child and
particularly in a last minutesituation.
(02:45):
Um, which I think is why we'vetransitioned well to doing
backup care for employers, butwe really wanted to look at it
and say, okay, can we leveragetechnology to create a safer way
for families to connect?
Can we leverage a lot of theinteresting trends we were
seeing online at the time?
So peer to peer recommendationsand online payment, can we take
all of these trends that we'reseeing online and use them to
(03:08):
actually take The fear andstress out of finding somebody
to watch your child.
And we've grown it.
It's now nationwide in theUnited States.
And, um, we have hundreds ofthousands of care providers and
millions of families registeredwith our site.
William Tincup (03:25):
And so how do we, how do we, uh, vet the care
providers?
What do we do there?
Lynn Perkins (03:30):
We have three different ways that we think
about vetting, and the veryfirst is kind of the most basic
that you would think of.
So, every care provider on ourplatform has to go through a
background check, both anational and a county level
check.
We also review every singleprofile that gets submitted, and
that's kind of what I considerSo, that is the let's make sure
(03:51):
we're dotting all of our I's andcrossing all of our T's to make
sure that we have well intended,um, good citizens who are
looking to do this work.
And then the next phase isreally looking at, um, how the
sitters and care providers areconnected to other people on the
platform.
So, one of the things we dothat's really unique is if you
come on and you are on thewebsite and last minute you
(04:13):
realize.
Tomorrow's the school holiday,and you and your partner both
have a meeting.
We show you how you're connectedto these different care
providers.
So you can see that three otherparents from your preschool have
used this provider, or five ofyour fellow colleagues, if
you're getting this as abenefit, have used this
provider.
And that's really mimicking howpeople look for care in the
(04:34):
offline world.
Getting a recommendation fromsomeone you trust is paramount,
and so we've built that into theplatform.
And then the third way that we.
that are providers as we displayall of their statistics.
So once they've been on theplatform, we show you.
Hey, this sitter's averageresponse time is under five
minutes.
Um, this sitter not only has 50five star reviews, but she has
(04:57):
40 repeat families, and thatrepeat family badge is
incredibly important.
It shows that not only didsomeone feel comfortable having
this person in their home thefirst time, but they've been
invited back to work with thatfamily a second, third, fourth
time as well.
And, and.
And especially when you're in apinch and you don't have a lot
of time to make a decision, youlook at all of these factors
(05:17):
when you're thinking about whoyou're comfortable bringing into
your home to take care of yourkids, your pets, your parents,
you name it.
William Tincup (05:24):
I love it.
So, uh, how do we, how do wesign on, uh, companies?
So obviously, uh, it would beseen as a corporate benefit.
So you're selling into, I'lljust say, oh, yeah,
compensation.
Lynn Perkins (05:37):
Yeah, go ahead.
Exactly.
No, you're right.
You're nailed it.
We sell into, usually it's, wework closely with HR teams and
we like to start off byunderstanding what the
employee's needs are.
So, we always recommendsurveying employees as a start
to find out, okay, are familiesand really looking for care for
their children or is it theyalso want to use our elder
(05:58):
companion care piece?
And we look at what the need isat the company because.
We're really trying to work withthe employer to make sure that
we're number one, reducingabsenteeism.
Something like 52 percent ofworking parents say that they
miss 10 or more days a year dueto care, um, gaps in care for
their family members.
So we try to address that andthen we look at it and identify
(06:22):
the best program that works forthem.
And we really recommendcompanies offering a care
stipend on top of just access toour platform because the cost of
care is incredibly high.
Right.
And if you can help to Offsetthat for your employees, you'll
have a much higher retentionrate.
You'll see more people who leaveto go on parental leave come
(06:43):
back if this benefit exists.
Um, it's something staggering,like 77 percent of people who go
on paternity leave come back totheir employer when they offer a
benefit.
in the care space versus 57percent if they don't.
So we really work to make surethat the program we're putting
in place for companies isaddressing their top needs and
then we're helping them marketit to make sure that employees
(07:04):
know that at that point in needthat this, this benefit exists.
William Tincup (07:08):
Do you see, or have you seen so far, uh, longer
term kind of relationships withcare providers being, uh, built
over time?
Lynn Perkins (07:16):
Absolutely.
Really, a family prefers to havethe same provider more than one
time, if, if that's possible,because they get to know your
child's sleep schedule, or theyunderstand if they're helping
with pets, which route to takeon the walk with the dog, or if
they're doing errands with oneof your elderly family members,
you know, how to, how to bestcommunicate with them.
(07:36):
So, in most cases, parents arelooking for A provider that can
work with their family at thattime in need, but ideally they'd
like to build a relationship fora longer period of time.
I
William Tincup (07:48):
love that.
So how does, uh, how does the,uh, obviously it's a benefit, so
the corporate, uh, thecorporation pays for it.
Um, how do y'all, how do y'allwork out kind of how the care
providers get
Lynn Perkins (08:00):
paid?
So the care providers get paidexactly what they post as their
rate.
So one of the things we found isthat the best way to keep High
quality, top notch careproviders is to let them set
their own rates, and they keep100 percent of that, and that's
really important because we'reable to retain top care
providers, um, as a result.
(08:21):
So, for instance, in the childcare space, we have a lot of
early childhood educationeducators, people who are maybe
getting their masters in that,and they have expertise in
working with young children.
We also have care providers whospeak one or two other
languages, and so if you'relooking for someone to take care
of your children, and you'd likeanother language spoken in the
(08:43):
home, or if you know that youhave an elderly family member
who needs help, and they feelmore comfortable speaking in a
language other than English,those care providers come on our
platform, and they set theirrate, and it's usually kind of
in line with their skills in thearea.
So if you're somebody with amaster's, you're obviously
setting a higher rate thansomebody who has less
(09:03):
experience.
William Tincup (09:06):
Okay.
So I've got two kids, butthey're a little bit older now,
but I can remember a time inwhich, you know, it was hard to
even think about having someoneelse outside of family.
Uh, even that probably, uh,Like, what questions should, you
know, parents ask of a, of acare provider, especially That
(09:31):
first baby, first time thatthey're going to let someone
else take care of their childwhile they're, you know, out on
a date or whatever the, whateverthe bid is, like what should
they be to, not that, but justfeel comfortable with the, cause
they're all vetted, like I getthat, but like to feel
comfortable with the, with the,uh, care
Lynn Perkins (09:50):
provider.
Well, I think you want to knowwhat that care provider specific
experience is with your agechild.
So, this is a trickier categorybecause somebody who is
absolutely fantastic with six toten year olds may have less
experience with infants.
And so, one of my favoritequestions to ask when I'm even
just looking personally for myfamily is to ask about what sort
(10:12):
of things they like to do withchildren that are my children's
age.
When my kids were infant, I liketo ask about, you know, how do
you, how do you think about aninfant's routine?
Are you comfortable changingdiapers?
Have you gone through thebedtime process with young kids
before?
Just understanding, um, whattheir experience has been with
my kids specific age range.
(10:34):
I also love to ask a questionabout, um, Uh, I don't want to
say emergencies per se, becauseideally we don't want those to
happen, but I do like to see howsomebody would think about it.
So I would say something like,under what circumstances would
you call me or text me to let meknow that something wasn't going
well?
Or, you know, can you tell meabout a time when you were
(10:55):
working for a family andsomething on the job didn't go
the way you had planned?
How did you handle it?
And I think asking for thosereal world experiences really
give you a good insight into howsomebody would, would think or
work.
I also, if you have time, forinstance, if you know your
daycare center is going to beclosed for two weeks and you
have enough notice, I alsohighly recommend that families
(11:18):
bring somebody into their homeand get to see them in action
with their child before they,they leave them for the first
time.
It's both a good way for you tosee how this person will
interact with your child, butit's also a great opportunity
for you to give them all thetips that are going to make them
successful.
Things like, oh, when my childcries, this is his favorite
lovey that he likes to have.
(11:39):
Or, you know, we find that if wefeed her and then put her down,
she sleeps better.
Giving them all of, you want toline them up for success as much
as you also want to make surethat they're the right fit for
you so that you have the optimaloutcome.
Any
William Tincup (11:51):
different questions for care providers for
the parents?
Like, uh, things that you'dguide them to say, Hey, you know
what?
You should probably ask thesethings.
Lynn Perkins (12:02):
For, um, for parents who are looking No,
William Tincup (12:04):
for care for
Lynn Perkins (12:05):
care providers.
Yes.
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, that is a great one.
One of the things that intoday's age I think is really
important to ask is, are yougoing to be working from home
while I'm here?
And that doesn't That doesn'tchange the way the provider is
going to be in your home, butit's a really nice heads up.
And if, if the parent says, yes,I'm going to be here, but don't
worry.
My kid is used to having me workfrom home.
(12:26):
We have a policy that if I'm inmy office with the door closed,
she knows that, um, I'm notavailable.
Just making sure that the careprovider understands how you
structure that working fromhome, because you can imagine
it's really tough as a careprovider in someone's home when
they're tempted to go run in andsee their parent every five
minutes.
Um, And it's just good to havethat, that established.
Um, I also, you know, I like forcare providers to ask the
(12:49):
family, are there any, any rulesor any policies that you want me
to follow?
Um, just so that I think themore you can be upfront and
clear communicating both sidesof this relationship, it's going
to be more successful for bothparties.
William Tincup (13:03):
I could easily ask you questions where this has
gotten off the rails becausejust, you know, it's life,
people, of course it's gottenoff the rails, but.
I'll, I'll, I'll save that oractually I'll just delete that.
Um, things where it's gonereally, really well.
So let's do the positive side ofthings where, uh, a care
(13:24):
provider has done somethingabove and beyond or a parent, if
you like, has, uh, has donesomething above and beyond for a
care provider.
I
Lynn Perkins (13:32):
mean, this is my favorite part, because there are
so many great examples, and Ithink in terms of the feedback
we get from families, when theyare in that last minute crunch,
whether it's going to make surethey make it to a meeting in
person when the child's daycareis closed, or whether it's going
Oh my gosh, we both let thisslip through the cracks and we
found somebody last minute.
(13:52):
When you can solve that lastminute crisis and do it in a way
where they leave a comment thatsays, Hey, not only did Sarah
reply to our job post in twominutes, but she was absolutely
outstanding.
She understood our baby'sschedule and our baby was
warming up to her before we leftthe house.
When you get that kind offeedback, you just know that a
special connection has been madeand that's, that's really
(14:13):
fulfilling on all, on all sides.
I would say, you know, goingabove and beyond.
I mean, we've had situationswhere child care providers who
are nursing students have had todo, um, you know, save a child
from choking, or they've comeinto a situation where, uh, you
know, it's a working mom, andthe house is a mess, and she
(14:35):
just can't get caught up, andwhile the baby's napping, the
care provider does some extrawork around the house, and
that's just, you know, thatgoing above and beyond really
sits well with parents and makestheir life a lot easier.
What do
William Tincup (14:46):
we do with, yeah, no, no, go ahead, go
ahead, finish your thought.
Lynn Perkins (14:49):
Oh, no, and I was just gonna say on the, on the
care provider side, one of themost touching things that we see
are families really going aboveand beyond when they've worked
with somebody on a repeat basis.
So, we hear of things where, youknow, this person has been
someone's nanny for a year andthe nanny finds herself in a
situation where she has to govisit a family member in another
(15:11):
part of the country and then theparent will offer to help.
Pay for part of the ticket oreven, even better, we have so
many care providers who aredoing this as they're
transitioning into another phaseof their life.
Maybe they're getting theirmaster's in something totally
unrelated to child care orthey're doing this as they put a
pause on their professional jobsearch.
And there are so many stories offamilies helping care providers
(15:34):
get those leads to their nextjob, which are really touching.
William Tincup (15:37):
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
What about, mm, kids can betricky.
Like, I'll just speak about myown.
Uh, kids can be tricky, and sosometimes behaviors Uh, that
maybe parents would, uh, allow,uh, I can see care providers
going, yeah, that's not, that'snot something we'll do, et
cetera, et cetera.
(15:58):
So how do you, how do you syncup the expectations between
three different parties, if youwill, care providers, the kids
or the people that are beingprovided for, and then the
parents and kind of getting themall to synced up on, you know,
not just expectations, but like,I'll use McKinnon, I'll use my
kids as an example.
(16:19):
My kids, both boys, they'reboth, you know, 13 and 17,
respectively, uh, can curse.
Not explicit stuff, like, right,you know, but they can, they can
say some things.
I could see that being a bit offputting.
(16:40):
To certain care providers,right?
If they didn't know in advanceor if it just, just kind of came
up, I could see them beingthrown off by something like
that.
And I'm sure there's other typesof examples of this.
Um, how do you sync up theexpectations kind of, I mean, I
can see care providers andparents kind of getting on the
same page pretty quickly, but Ican see kids.
(17:01):
Being the x factor.
Lynn Perkins (17:03):
Absolutely.
I wish you could see my faceright now as somebody who has
three boys that are in that sameage range.
I'm nodding vigorously alongwith your statement.
Um, but, and you, you mentionedthe way you asked the question
was really interesting becauseI'd say that what you described
is the most common situationwhere there's probably a
behavior that the parent allows.
Right.
(17:24):
And the care provider Thebehavior surfaces during the job
and the care provider doesn'tknow if this is a behavior
that's allowed or not.
William Tincup (17:31):
Well, kids push boundaries.
I mean, that's part of their
Lynn Perkins (17:34):
job, right?
And they love to push boundarieswith new, with new, new people
in the home.
Um, you know, I think for, for,I always, I don't, I'll speak
personally first and then I'lltalk about what we see across
the site, but, you know,personally, I always used to
leave a note on my note to thecare provider that said, if my
kids are asking to do somethingthat seems Um, like something
(17:54):
that wouldn't be allowed.
Assume it's not, or text me ifyou need to know.
Um, so I'm, I hear you on that.
And, and I think one of thethings, especially if it's a
care provider you're going touse over and over again, meeting
with them up front and goingthrough, hey, these are our
basic policies with the kids,and even understanding like,
Hey, when, when X, Y, Z kid doesthis and we don't condone it,
(18:16):
this is, this is how we handleit.
Letting them know what your ownbehavior policies are so that it
makes it easy.
But, um, I mean, this happens tositters all the time.
They're in a job and a behaviorpops up and it's not something
that's been discussed and on thefly, they have to figure out how
to handle it.
And I would say that, that most,uh, Sitters are pretty skilled
in this, and they'll usuallyeither deflect the behavior and
(18:39):
get the kid focused on somethingelse, especially if it's a
younger child, wheredisciplining is less of an
option, and a lot of times theChildless pushing buttons just
to push buttons, deflecting themto do something else is, is one
of the things that we see a lot,um, and anecdotally, we find out
about this because we have acare provider, uh, community
(19:00):
site where care providers willgo on and actually ask each
other, Hey, this just happenedon a job.
How would you handle it?
And then they give each otheradvice.
And so I always love to see whatthey're coaching each other on.
But I would say on the behaviorfront, um, if it's something
like a swear word or, um, Hey,he threw a toy, and I know he
probably isn't supposed to dothat.
Sitters are pretty well equippedto reign that behavior in and
(19:23):
then redirect the child.
But we do also have the abilityfor a I
William Tincup (19:43):
think you're on mute.
Lynn Perkins (19:53):
Okay.
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
Did it go out there?
It
William Tincup (19:58):
did, but it's okay.
Go ahead.
Finish your thought.
Lynn Perkins (20:01):
Oh, yes.
So we do allow, we do, weunderstand that sometimes there
just is a, uh, uh, an alignmentbetween the parent and the, and
the sitter or the sitter and thechild that doesn't fit.
And, and we allow both partiesto determine that they don't
want to work together again, ifthat's the case.
William Tincup (20:17):
I love that.
And again, back to that, uh, mydad says that I can throw, you
know, rocks at cars, you know,type of example.
It's like, you know what?
Your dad's not here right now,you know?
Exactly.
Exactly.
We'll sync that up later on,but, uh, no rock throwing.
Um.
Alright, let's do some buy-sidestuff for, for, for the
audience.
And this is more when, uh, whenyou're first approaching the
(20:40):
benefits providers, uh, the, thebenefits managers, hr, et
cetera, whoever's gonna buy theservice, uh, what questions if
they've never bought a servicelike this, um, because it is
unique.
It's actually really cool.
How, what are the questions thatthey should be asking you?
Whether
Lynn Perkins (20:59):
it's my service or another one in the category, I
think the very first thing that.
So, what an HR person should dois really survey their employees
and find out what are theirbiggest pain points.
Is it finding last minute carefor children?
Is it paying for ongoing childcare, in which case a
(21:22):
reimbursement program, which,um, Is something we also offer
should also be included.
Is it that it's really thecombination of taking care of
elderly relatives and pets andkids.
So I would suggest to any HRteam that you go out and survey
your employees first to reallyunderstand.
You know, what, what are the topconcerns?
(21:42):
Because you probably won't beable to solve every employee's
care needs with one benefit.
And so understanding like, howcan we serve the bulk of, of
our, um, of our employees?
Because you really want, wedon't want someone just to buy
our service and have it not beutilized.
We want to see maximumutilization.
So we would then go in and say,okay.
(22:03):
Is it that you're sensing on, onthe HR side, are you seeing that
employees are missing daysbecause they're finding gaps in
their care?
And if that's the case, thenwe'll talk about putting
together a plan where they offera subsidy and access to our
platform.
And we'll educate employees onhow to best find care in that
(22:23):
last minute need and how to usethat subsidy.
Um, and oftentimes companieswill want to also allow.
Family employees to bring familymembers onto our platform.
You mentioned it in the earlierin our conversation that for a
lot of families Leaving theirchild with somebody they don't
know is really daunting and weknow that a lot of care happens
(22:46):
Through relatives and neighborsand other trusted Individuals,
so we actually have a way thatthose people can come onto our
platform their backgroundchecked just for To give the
company some peace of mind aswell, they go through the same
process and then the parent orfamily member can, can use the
benefit to pay for that carethrough this somebody that they
(23:08):
already know.
So we understand, and especiallyin more rural areas, that this
is more common and we like totry to.
Again, have like the highestutilization possible and so
sometimes we're looking at apackage that combines using our
platform and then doing asubsidy for care that's either
with a known care provider oroff of our platform.
William Tincup (23:30):
We should have asked this earlier.
There's ratings, uh, obviouslyfor care providers.
Are there ratings for theparents?
Lynn Perkins (23:37):
There are, it's, it's, we don't reach, we don't
let the care providers rate thechildren.
I feel like that could go southvery quickly.
But we do ask, we ask everysingle care provider after
they've been in the family'shome, did you feel safe in the
home?
Would you return to work forthis family again?
And the good news is that onboth sides of the equation, both
(23:58):
parties are generally very happywith the experience on, on
either side.
There are times though whensomething is just, somebody is
just not the right fit for ourplatform.
And it's, and I think Parentswould be surprised to learn that
its family is actually moreoften than care providers.
100%.
100%.
So, so we do, we do have avetting process on the other
(24:19):
side of the equation.
It's just a little less, it'sless of a star system and more
of a safety, um, a safetyprotocol.
William Tincup (24:26):
Well, I can see that being more around
expectations, you know, wherethey just have really incredible
high expectations for, uh, acare provider.
They're almost unrealistic.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, like I can see them knowwhat they're never going to be
happy with no matter who takescare of their child.
Lynn Perkins (24:46):
William, I wish I could tell you.
I had no idea what you'retalking about, but yes, we see
those.
I mean, everything from, oh, thecare provider, you know, calling
kind of the emergency hotline tosay that the care provider, um,
put the fancy pot in thedishwasher to, um, you name it.
I think the care providerbrought it.
an organic fruit into my home.
I mean, we've seen it all.
(25:06):
So, you know, I do agree thatsetting expectations up front,
going back to what I said are mybiggest tips, just making sure
that both parties have equalunderstanding and expectations
are set, I think, helps to avoidthese kind of situations.
William Tincup (25:22):
The, uh, the technology itself, so, uh, when
you demo or when you show peoplethe technology, what do they,
uh, what do they fall in lovewith on the buying side?
Lynn Perkins (25:34):
On the buying side, I think it's a combination
of the statistics of ourfulfillment rates.
We have very high fulfillmentrates, and I think it's that
peace of mind when you see thatin your, whether it's your
headquarters city or yoursatellite office city, that
there are care providers on ourplatform who have.
Repeat families and videostalking about their experience
(25:55):
working with young kids.
You see how much thought we'veput into building a platform
that highlights different traitsof different care providers so
that families can really hone inon the best fit for their
families.
So we've had HR teams come inand say, oh, you know, we have
People with children withspecial needs, and we'll be able
to show them how they can filterfor people with experience for
(26:18):
these different, um, differentsituations, whether it's a
language or a special, a specialneed a family has, and when they
can see that their employeewould be serviced by the
platform very well, um, I thinkthat's, that's a nice, a nice
moment where they recognizethat, okay, this is gonna work
for the bulk of our employees.
William Tincup (26:38):
Right.
All right.
Last thing is, is kind of yourfavorite story where you like to
tell people, you know, again,you started a company, you've
been doing it for a littlewhile.
It's, it's obviously supersuccessful.
What's your, what's your kind ofyour favorite story of maybe
someone that was, I don't wantto say pessimistic or cynical,
but maybe they just didn't getit, but they took a, they took a
(26:59):
chance and then all of a sudden,boom, you know, they can't
imagine life without it.
You know, one of those types ofthings.
Lynn Perkins (27:06):
Well, I'll tell you, this one is both an urban
sitter story and kind of apersonal one.
I have, um, friends when Istarted the company years ago
who said to me, Oh, this, what abrilliant idea.
It's great.
You're doing this.
Oh, but I would never trustanybody that I found on the
internet.
And lo and behold, one day, oneof these naysayers, um, found
(27:26):
herself in a situation where shehad a big work meeting.
She was actually hosting aconference and she ended up in a
childcare bind.
And.
Uh, used Urban Sitter and hadnot only a great experience, but
a fabulous experience.
She continued to use that careprovider.
So not only did she become a bigadvocate and, and back, backed
off of her words of saying shewould never use it.
(27:47):
Um, but she actually became oneof our angel investors in our
early days.
So I love to, to tell that storyabout how conceptually she loved
the idea of the platform, butwould never use it.
And then the day it came throughfor her, she became, um, a
convert.
William Tincup (28:02):
Uh, that's probably the best story ever.
Uh, someone who goes fromnaysayer to investor.
Lynn Perkins (28:07):
Boom.
Well, and I did have a situationwhere I was at the park with my
kids when they were young and Iwas kind of at my wits end.
It had been a long period oftime where I was by myself with
them and a woman at the parkleaned over to me and said, you
know, next time your husbandgoes out of town, you should try
this website called UrbanSitter.
It's really great.
William Tincup (28:26):
Tell me a little bit more about it.
Yeah, great.
Tell me, tell me more.
How'd you learn about it by theway?
Absolutely.
Oh, that's great.
Lynn, this has been wonderful.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
Oh, William, thanks
Lynn Perkins (28:38):
for having me.
I really enjoyed it.
William Tincup (28:39):
Absolutely.
Thanks everybody for listening.
Until next time.
This is William Tincup, and you're listening to
the Use Case Podcast.
Today, we have Lynn Onn fromUrban Center.
We'll be learning all about theuse case of the business case
for why customers and prospectsuse.
UrbanSitter.
Lynn, would you do us a favorand introduce yourself?
Lynn Perkins (00:40):
Yes.
Thank you for having me.
I'm Lynn Perkins.
I'm the CEO and co founder ofUrbanSitter.
We're a service that helpsfamilies and care providers
connect.
We work with individuals and asa corporate benefit that teams
can offer to their employees aswell.
William Tincup (00:58):
I love it.
I especially love the corporateside of it and seeing it as a
benefit.
Recently, uh, talked to somebodywhere they provide, they
provide, uh, it's cleaning.
So basically what they do for alot of their employees, all
their employees, actually, it'sa benefit for all their
employees is they have housecleaners.
(01:20):
So twice, twice a month, housecleaners, you know, uh, come by
and clean the house.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Yeah.
I mean, when he told me that,I'm like, That's just a really
cool benefit.
That's actually a benefit.
That's something that I woulduse.
It's something that somebodywould use.
And I could see where peoplewould use sitters as well.
If people need to get away, notsay getting away from their
(01:43):
kids, but they need some timeaway and having someone Come in
and, uh, take care of theirkids.
I
Lynn Perkins (01:50):
think that'd be great.
Absolutely.
And it's not surprising to mewhen you talk to that company,
um, that that benefit's beenwell received because 40 percent
of working parents that wesurveyed do in fact say that
juggling Work and homeresponsibilities is their top
stressor and so whether that'schild care or pet care,
(02:12):
housecleaning, you name it,those are, that definitely lines
up with the data that I've seenas well.
William Tincup (02:17):
So, uh, how did you, how'd you come to start,
uh, the company or?
Co founder of the company.
Lynn Perkins (02:23):
I started it about 15 years ago with two co
founders and we really wanted toaddress this stressful moment
where a family needs to findsomebody.
Uh, originally it was justfocused on children.
Now we do more, but thestressful moment where families
are looking to find somebody totake care of their child and
particularly in a last minutesituation.
(02:45):
Um, which I think is why we'vetransitioned well to doing
backup care for employers, butwe really wanted to look at it
and say, okay, can we leveragetechnology to create a safer way
for families to connect?
Can we leverage a lot of theinteresting trends we were
seeing online at the time?
So peer to peer recommendationsand online payment, can we take
all of these trends that we'reseeing online and use them to
(03:08):
actually take The fear andstress out of finding somebody
to watch your child.
And we've grown it.
It's now nationwide in theUnited States.
And, um, we have hundreds ofthousands of care providers and
millions of families registeredwith our site.
William Tincup (03:25):
And so how do we, how do we, uh, vet the care
providers?
What do we do there?
Lynn Perkins (03:30):
We have three different ways that we think
about vetting, and the veryfirst is kind of the most basic
that you would think of.
So, every care provider on ourplatform has to go through a
background check, both anational and a county level
check.
We also review every singleprofile that gets submitted, and
that's kind of what I considerSo, that is the let's make sure
(03:51):
we're dotting all of our I's andcrossing all of our T's to make
sure that we have well intended,um, good citizens who are
looking to do this work.
And then the next phase isreally looking at, um, how the
sitters and care providers areconnected to other people on the
platform.
So, one of the things we dothat's really unique is if you
come on and you are on thewebsite and last minute you
(04:13):
realize.
Tomorrow's the school holiday,and you and your partner both
have a meeting.
We show you how you're connectedto these different care
providers.
So you can see that three otherparents from your preschool have
used this provider, or five ofyour fellow colleagues, if
you're getting this as abenefit, have used this
provider.
And that's really mimicking howpeople look for care in the
(04:34):
offline world.
Getting a recommendation fromsomeone you trust is paramount,
and so we've built that into theplatform.
And then the third way that we.
that are providers as we displayall of their statistics.
So once they've been on theplatform, we show you.
Hey, this sitter's averageresponse time is under five
minutes.
Um, this sitter not only has 50five star reviews, but she has
(04:57):
40 repeat families, and thatrepeat family badge is
incredibly important.
It shows that not only didsomeone feel comfortable having
this person in their home thefirst time, but they've been
invited back to work with thatfamily a second, third, fourth
time as well.
And, and.
And especially when you're in apinch and you don't have a lot
of time to make a decision, youlook at all of these factors
(05:17):
when you're thinking about whoyou're comfortable bringing into
your home to take care of yourkids, your pets, your parents,
you name it.
William Tincup (05:24):
I love it.
So, uh, how do we, how do wesign on, uh, companies?
So obviously, uh, it would beseen as a corporate benefit.
So you're selling into, I'lljust say, oh, yeah,
compensation.
Lynn Perkins (05:37):
Yeah, go ahead.
Exactly.
No, you're right.
You're nailed it.
We sell into, usually it's, wework closely with HR teams and
we like to start off byunderstanding what the
employee's needs are.
So, we always recommendsurveying employees as a start
to find out, okay, are familiesand really looking for care for
their children or is it theyalso want to use our elder
(05:58):
companion care piece?
And we look at what the need isat the company because.
We're really trying to work withthe employer to make sure that
we're number one, reducingabsenteeism.
Something like 52 percent ofworking parents say that they
miss 10 or more days a year dueto care, um, gaps in care for
their family members.
So we try to address that andthen we look at it and identify
(06:22):
the best program that works forthem.
And we really recommendcompanies offering a care
stipend on top of just access toour platform because the cost of
care is incredibly high.
Right.
And if you can help to Offsetthat for your employees, you'll
have a much higher retentionrate.
You'll see more people who leaveto go on parental leave come
(06:43):
back if this benefit exists.
Um, it's something staggering,like 77 percent of people who go
on paternity leave come back totheir employer when they offer a
benefit.
in the care space versus 57percent if they don't.
So we really work to make surethat the program we're putting
in place for companies isaddressing their top needs and
then we're helping them marketit to make sure that employees
(07:04):
know that at that point in needthat this, this benefit exists.
William Tincup (07:08):
Do you see, or have you seen so far, uh, longer
term kind of relationships withcare providers being, uh, built
over time?
Lynn Perkins (07:16):
Absolutely.
Really, a family prefers to havethe same provider more than one
time, if, if that's possible,because they get to know your
child's sleep schedule, or theyunderstand if they're helping
with pets, which route to takeon the walk with the dog, or if
they're doing errands with oneof your elderly family members,
you know, how to, how to bestcommunicate with them.
(07:36):
So, in most cases, parents arelooking for A provider that can
work with their family at thattime in need, but ideally they'd
like to build a relationship fora longer period of time.
I
William Tincup (07:48):
love that.
So how does, uh, how does the,uh, obviously it's a benefit, so
the corporate, uh, thecorporation pays for it.
Um, how do y'all, how do y'allwork out kind of how the care
providers get
Lynn Perkins (08:00):
paid?
So the care providers get paidexactly what they post as their
rate.
So one of the things we found isthat the best way to keep High
quality, top notch careproviders is to let them set
their own rates, and they keep100 percent of that, and that's
really important because we'reable to retain top care
providers, um, as a result.
(08:21):
So, for instance, in the childcare space, we have a lot of
early childhood educationeducators, people who are maybe
getting their masters in that,and they have expertise in
working with young children.
We also have care providers whospeak one or two other
languages, and so if you'relooking for someone to take care
of your children, and you'd likeanother language spoken in the
(08:43):
home, or if you know that youhave an elderly family member
who needs help, and they feelmore comfortable speaking in a
language other than English,those care providers come on our
platform, and they set theirrate, and it's usually kind of
in line with their skills in thearea.
So if you're somebody with amaster's, you're obviously
setting a higher rate thansomebody who has less
(09:03):
experience.
William Tincup (09:06):
Okay.
So I've got two kids, butthey're a little bit older now,
but I can remember a time inwhich, you know, it was hard to
even think about having someoneelse outside of family.
Uh, even that probably, uh,Like, what questions should, you
know, parents ask of a, of acare provider, especially That
(09:31):
first baby, first time thatthey're going to let someone
else take care of their childwhile they're, you know, out on
a date or whatever the, whateverthe bid is, like what should
they be to, not that, but justfeel comfortable with the, cause
they're all vetted, like I getthat, but like to feel
comfortable with the, with the,uh, care
Lynn Perkins (09:50):
provider.
Well, I think you want to knowwhat that care provider specific
experience is with your agechild.
So, this is a trickier categorybecause somebody who is
absolutely fantastic with six toten year olds may have less
experience with infants.
And so, one of my favoritequestions to ask when I'm even
just looking personally for myfamily is to ask about what sort
(10:12):
of things they like to do withchildren that are my children's
age.
When my kids were infant, I liketo ask about, you know, how do
you, how do you think about aninfant's routine?
Are you comfortable changingdiapers?
Have you gone through thebedtime process with young kids
before?
Just understanding, um, whattheir experience has been with
my kids specific age range.
(10:34):
I also love to ask a questionabout, um, Uh, I don't want to
say emergencies per se, becauseideally we don't want those to
happen, but I do like to see howsomebody would think about it.
So I would say something like,under what circumstances would
you call me or text me to let meknow that something wasn't going
well?
Or, you know, can you tell meabout a time when you were
(10:55):
working for a family andsomething on the job didn't go
the way you had planned?
How did you handle it?
And I think asking for thosereal world experiences really
give you a good insight into howsomebody would, would think or
work.
I also, if you have time, forinstance, if you know your
daycare center is going to beclosed for two weeks and you
have enough notice, I alsohighly recommend that families
(11:18):
bring somebody into their homeand get to see them in action
with their child before they,they leave them for the first
time.
It's both a good way for you tosee how this person will
interact with your child, butit's also a great opportunity
for you to give them all thetips that are going to make them
successful.
Things like, oh, when my childcries, this is his favorite
lovey that he likes to have.
(11:39):
Or, you know, we find that if wefeed her and then put her down,
she sleeps better.
Giving them all of, you want toline them up for success as much
as you also want to make surethat they're the right fit for
you so that you have the optimaloutcome.
Any
William Tincup (11:51):
different questions for care providers for
the parents?
Like, uh, things that you'dguide them to say, Hey, you know
what?
You should probably ask thesethings.
Lynn Perkins (12:02):
For, um, for parents who are looking No,
William Tincup (12:04):
for care for
Lynn Perkins (12:05):
care providers.
Yes.
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, that is a great one.
One of the things that intoday's age I think is really
important to ask is, are yougoing to be working from home
while I'm here?
And that doesn't That doesn'tchange the way the provider is
going to be in your home, butit's a really nice heads up.
And if, if the parent says, yes,I'm going to be here, but don't
worry.
My kid is used to having me workfrom home.
(12:26):
We have a policy that if I'm inmy office with the door closed,
she knows that, um, I'm notavailable.
Just making sure that the careprovider understands how you
structure that working fromhome, because you can imagine
it's really tough as a careprovider in someone's home when
they're tempted to go run in andsee their parent every five
minutes.
Um, And it's just good to havethat, that established.
Um, I also, you know, I like forcare providers to ask the
(12:49):
family, are there any, any rulesor any policies that you want me
to follow?
Um, just so that I think themore you can be upfront and
clear communicating both sidesof this relationship, it's going
to be more successful for bothparties.
William Tincup (13:03):
I could easily ask you questions where this has
gotten off the rails becausejust, you know, it's life,
people, of course it's gottenoff the rails, but.
I'll, I'll, I'll save that oractually I'll just delete that.
Um, things where it's gonereally, really well.
So let's do the positive side ofthings where, uh, a care
(13:24):
provider has done somethingabove and beyond or a parent, if
you like, has, uh, has donesomething above and beyond for a
care provider.
I
Lynn Perkins (13:32):
mean, this is my favorite part, because there are
so many great examples, and Ithink in terms of the feedback
we get from families, when theyare in that last minute crunch,
whether it's going to make surethey make it to a meeting in
person when the child's daycareis closed, or whether it's going
Oh my gosh, we both let thisslip through the cracks and we
found somebody last minute.
(13:52):
When you can solve that lastminute crisis and do it in a way
where they leave a comment thatsays, Hey, not only did Sarah
reply to our job post in twominutes, but she was absolutely
outstanding.
She understood our baby'sschedule and our baby was
warming up to her before we leftthe house.
When you get that kind offeedback, you just know that a
special connection has been madeand that's, that's really
(14:13):
fulfilling on all, on all sides.
I would say, you know, goingabove and beyond.
I mean, we've had situationswhere child care providers who
are nursing students have had todo, um, you know, save a child
from choking, or they've comeinto a situation where, uh, you
know, it's a working mom, andthe house is a mess, and she
(14:35):
just can't get caught up, andwhile the baby's napping, the
care provider does some extrawork around the house, and
that's just, you know, thatgoing above and beyond really
sits well with parents and makestheir life a lot easier.
What do
William Tincup (14:46):
we do with, yeah, no, no, go ahead, go
ahead, finish your thought.
Lynn Perkins (14:49):
Oh, no, and I was just gonna say on the, on the
care provider side, one of themost touching things that we see
are families really going aboveand beyond when they've worked
with somebody on a repeat basis.
So, we hear of things where, youknow, this person has been
someone's nanny for a year andthe nanny finds herself in a
situation where she has to govisit a family member in another
(15:11):
part of the country and then theparent will offer to help.
Pay for part of the ticket oreven, even better, we have so
many care providers who aredoing this as they're
transitioning into another phaseof their life.
Maybe they're getting theirmaster's in something totally
unrelated to child care orthey're doing this as they put a
pause on their professional jobsearch.
And there are so many stories offamilies helping care providers
(15:34):
get those leads to their nextjob, which are really touching.
William Tincup (15:37):
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
What about, mm, kids can betricky.
Like, I'll just speak about myown.
Uh, kids can be tricky, and sosometimes behaviors Uh, that
maybe parents would, uh, allow,uh, I can see care providers
going, yeah, that's not, that'snot something we'll do, et
cetera, et cetera.
(15:58):
So how do you, how do you syncup the expectations between
three different parties, if youwill, care providers, the kids
or the people that are beingprovided for, and then the
parents and kind of getting themall to synced up on, you know,
not just expectations, but like,I'll use McKinnon, I'll use my
kids as an example.
(16:19):
My kids, both boys, they'reboth, you know, 13 and 17,
respectively, uh, can curse.
Not explicit stuff, like, right,you know, but they can, they can
say some things.
I could see that being a bit offputting.
(16:40):
To certain care providers,right?
If they didn't know in advanceor if it just, just kind of came
up, I could see them beingthrown off by something like
that.
And I'm sure there's other typesof examples of this.
Um, how do you sync up theexpectations kind of, I mean, I
can see care providers andparents kind of getting on the
same page pretty quickly, but Ican see kids.
(17:01):
Being the x factor.
Lynn Perkins (17:03):
Absolutely.
I wish you could see my faceright now as somebody who has
three boys that are in that sameage range.
I'm nodding vigorously alongwith your statement.
Um, but, and you, you mentionedthe way you asked the question
was really interesting becauseI'd say that what you described
is the most common situationwhere there's probably a
behavior that the parent allows.
Right.
(17:24):
And the care provider Thebehavior surfaces during the job
and the care provider doesn'tknow if this is a behavior
that's allowed or not.
William Tincup (17:31):
Well, kids push boundaries.
I mean, that's part of their
Lynn Perkins (17:34):
job, right?
And they love to push boundarieswith new, with new, new people
in the home.
Um, you know, I think for, for,I always, I don't, I'll speak
personally first and then I'lltalk about what we see across
the site, but, you know,personally, I always used to
leave a note on my note to thecare provider that said, if my
kids are asking to do somethingthat seems Um, like something
(17:54):
that wouldn't be allowed.
Assume it's not, or text me ifyou need to know.
Um, so I'm, I hear you on that.
And, and I think one of thethings, especially if it's a
care provider you're going touse over and over again, meeting
with them up front and goingthrough, hey, these are our
basic policies with the kids,and even understanding like,
Hey, when, when X, Y, Z kid doesthis and we don't condone it,
(18:16):
this is, this is how we handleit.
Letting them know what your ownbehavior policies are so that it
makes it easy.
But, um, I mean, this happens tositters all the time.
They're in a job and a behaviorpops up and it's not something
that's been discussed and on thefly, they have to figure out how
to handle it.
And I would say that, that most,uh, Sitters are pretty skilled
in this, and they'll usuallyeither deflect the behavior and
(18:39):
get the kid focused on somethingelse, especially if it's a
younger child, wheredisciplining is less of an
option, and a lot of times theChildless pushing buttons just
to push buttons, deflecting themto do something else is, is one
of the things that we see a lot,um, and anecdotally, we find out
about this because we have acare provider, uh, community
(19:00):
site where care providers willgo on and actually ask each
other, Hey, this just happenedon a job.
How would you handle it?
And then they give each otheradvice.
And so I always love to see whatthey're coaching each other on.
But I would say on the behaviorfront, um, if it's something
like a swear word or, um, Hey,he threw a toy, and I know he
probably isn't supposed to dothat.
Sitters are pretty well equippedto reign that behavior in and
(19:23):
then redirect the child.
But we do also have the abilityfor a I
William Tincup (19:43):
think you're on mute.
Lynn Perkins (19:53):
Okay.
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
Did it go out there?
It
William Tincup (19:58):
did, but it's okay.
Go ahead.
Finish your thought.
Lynn Perkins (20:01):
Oh, yes.
So we do allow, we do, weunderstand that sometimes there
just is a, uh, uh, an alignmentbetween the parent and the, and
the sitter or the sitter and thechild that doesn't fit.
And, and we allow both partiesto determine that they don't
want to work together again, ifthat's the case.
William Tincup (20:17):
I love that.
And again, back to that, uh, mydad says that I can throw, you
know, rocks at cars, you know,type of example.
It's like, you know what?
Your dad's not here right now,you know?
Exactly.
Exactly.
We'll sync that up later on,but, uh, no rock throwing.
Um.
Alright, let's do some buy-sidestuff for, for, for the
audience.
And this is more when, uh, whenyou're first approaching the
(20:40):
benefits providers, uh, the, thebenefits managers, hr, et
cetera, whoever's gonna buy theservice, uh, what questions if
they've never bought a servicelike this, um, because it is
unique.
It's actually really cool.
How, what are the questions thatthey should be asking you?
Whether
Lynn Perkins (20:59):
it's my service or another one in the category, I
think the very first thing that.
So, what an HR person should dois really survey their employees
and find out what are theirbiggest pain points.
Is it finding last minute carefor children?
Is it paying for ongoing childcare, in which case a
(21:22):
reimbursement program, which,um, Is something we also offer
should also be included.
Is it that it's really thecombination of taking care of
elderly relatives and pets andkids.
So I would suggest to any HRteam that you go out and survey
your employees first to reallyunderstand.
You know, what, what are the topconcerns?
(21:42):
Because you probably won't beable to solve every employee's
care needs with one benefit.
And so understanding like, howcan we serve the bulk of, of
our, um, of our employees?
Because you really want, wedon't want someone just to buy
our service and have it not beutilized.
We want to see maximumutilization.
So we would then go in and say,okay.
(22:03):
Is it that you're sensing on, onthe HR side, are you seeing that
employees are missing daysbecause they're finding gaps in
their care?
And if that's the case, thenwe'll talk about putting
together a plan where they offera subsidy and access to our
platform.
And we'll educate employees onhow to best find care in that
(22:23):
last minute need and how to usethat subsidy.
Um, and oftentimes companieswill want to also allow.
Family employees to bring familymembers onto our platform.
You mentioned it in the earlierin our conversation that for a
lot of families Leaving theirchild with somebody they don't
know is really daunting and weknow that a lot of care happens
(22:46):
Through relatives and neighborsand other trusted Individuals,
so we actually have a way thatthose people can come onto our
platform their backgroundchecked just for To give the
company some peace of mind aswell, they go through the same
process and then the parent orfamily member can, can use the
benefit to pay for that carethrough this somebody that they
(23:08):
already know.
So we understand, and especiallyin more rural areas, that this
is more common and we like totry to.
Again, have like the highestutilization possible and so
sometimes we're looking at apackage that combines using our
platform and then doing asubsidy for care that's either
with a known care provider oroff of our platform.
William Tincup (23:30):
We should have asked this earlier.
There's ratings, uh, obviouslyfor care providers.
Are there ratings for theparents?
Lynn Perkins (23:37):
There are, it's, it's, we don't reach, we don't
let the care providers rate thechildren.
I feel like that could go southvery quickly.
But we do ask, we ask everysingle care provider after
they've been in the family'shome, did you feel safe in the
home?
Would you return to work forthis family again?
And the good news is that onboth sides of the equation, both
(23:58):
parties are generally very happywith the experience on, on
either side.
There are times though whensomething is just, somebody is
just not the right fit for ourplatform.
And it's, and I think Parentswould be surprised to learn that
its family is actually moreoften than care providers.
100%.
100%.
So, so we do, we do have avetting process on the other
(24:19):
side of the equation.
It's just a little less, it'sless of a star system and more
of a safety, um, a safetyprotocol.
William Tincup (24:26):
Well, I can see that being more around
expectations, you know, wherethey just have really incredible
high expectations for, uh, acare provider.
They're almost unrealistic.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, like I can see them knowwhat they're never going to be
happy with no matter who takescare of their child.
Lynn Perkins (24:46):
William, I wish I could tell you.
I had no idea what you'retalking about, but yes, we see
those.
I mean, everything from, oh, thecare provider, you know, calling
kind of the emergency hotline tosay that the care provider, um,
put the fancy pot in thedishwasher to, um, you name it.
I think the care providerbrought it.
an organic fruit into my home.
I mean, we've seen it all.
(25:06):
So, you know, I do agree thatsetting expectations up front,
going back to what I said are mybiggest tips, just making sure
that both parties have equalunderstanding and expectations
are set, I think, helps to avoidthese kind of situations.
William Tincup (25:22):
The, uh, the technology itself, so, uh, when
you demo or when you show peoplethe technology, what do they,
uh, what do they fall in lovewith on the buying side?
Lynn Perkins (25:34):
On the buying side, I think it's a combination
of the statistics of ourfulfillment rates.
We have very high fulfillmentrates, and I think it's that
peace of mind when you see thatin your, whether it's your
headquarters city or yoursatellite office city, that
there are care providers on ourplatform who have.
Repeat families and videostalking about their experience
(25:55):
working with young kids.
You see how much thought we'veput into building a platform
that highlights different traitsof different care providers so
that families can really hone inon the best fit for their
families.
So we've had HR teams come inand say, oh, you know, we have
People with children withspecial needs, and we'll be able
to show them how they can filterfor people with experience for
(26:18):
these different, um, differentsituations, whether it's a
language or a special, a specialneed a family has, and when they
can see that their employeewould be serviced by the
platform very well, um, I thinkthat's, that's a nice, a nice
moment where they recognizethat, okay, this is gonna work
for the bulk of our employees.
William Tincup (26:38):
Right.
All right.
Last thing is, is kind of yourfavorite story where you like to
tell people, you know, again,you started a company, you've
been doing it for a littlewhile.
It's, it's obviously supersuccessful.
What's your, what's your kind ofyour favorite story of maybe
someone that was, I don't wantto say pessimistic or cynical,
but maybe they just didn't getit, but they took a, they took a
(26:59):
chance and then all of a sudden,boom, you know, they can't
imagine life without it.
You know, one of those types ofthings.
Lynn Perkins (27:06):
Well, I'll tell you, this one is both an urban
sitter story and kind of apersonal one.
I have, um, friends when Istarted the company years ago
who said to me, Oh, this, what abrilliant idea.
It's great.
You're doing this.
Oh, but I would never trustanybody that I found on the
internet.
And lo and behold, one day, oneof these naysayers, um, found
(27:26):
herself in a situation where shehad a big work meeting.
She was actually hosting aconference and she ended up in a
childcare bind.
And.
Uh, used Urban Sitter and hadnot only a great experience, but
a fabulous experience.
She continued to use that careprovider.
So not only did she become a bigadvocate and, and back, backed
off of her words of saying shewould never use it.
(27:47):
Um, but she actually became oneof our angel investors in our
early days.
So I love to, to tell that storyabout how conceptually she loved
the idea of the platform, butwould never use it.
And then the day it came throughfor her, she became, um, a
convert.
William Tincup (28:02):
Uh, that's probably the best story ever.
Uh, someone who goes fromnaysayer to investor.
Lynn Perkins (28:07):
Boom.
Well, and I did have a situationwhere I was at the park with my
kids when they were young and Iwas kind of at my wits end.
It had been a long period oftime where I was by myself with
them and a woman at the parkleaned over to me and said, you
know, next time your husbandgoes out of town, you should try
this website called UrbanSitter.
It's really great.
William Tincup (28:26):
Tell me a little bit more about it.
Yeah, great.
Tell me, tell me more.
How'd you learn about it by theway?
Absolutely.
Oh, that's great.
Lynn, this has been wonderful.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
Oh, William, thanks
Lynn Perkins (28:38):
for having me.
I really enjoyed it.
William Tincup (28:39):
Absolutely.
Thanks everybody for listening.
Until next time.
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