If dealing with COVID-19 wasn’t stressful enough for parents of young kids, finding reliable child care during the pandemic was enough to give them full-blown agita. Consider the experience of Tiesha Sinouthasy, founder of Peace of Mind Nannies, who had a view from the frontlines.
Sinouthasy launched her East Providence-based nanny and babysitting business in January 2020, only to shut down two months later when pandemic lockdowns began.
“We had a team of 10 nannies ready to work with families,” she said. “When we reopened later that year, parents quickly realized they needed help when they were working from home.”
Doing a videoconferencing call for work isn’t easy when noisy kids are clamoring for attention in the next room, she points out.
Business has climbed ever since.
Peace of Mind Nannies is a placement agency that works with all families but specializes in caring for children and young adults on the autism spectrum, as well as those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It’s the only Rhode Island agency with that specialization, she says.
Her nannies and sitters are placed by Peace of Mind and work anywhere from a single day or evening to 40 hours a week.
Peace of Mind also provides child care for special events such as conferences and weddings, with toys, finger painting, Play-Doh and ring tosses included. Nannies earn a minimum of $25 an hour.
Sinouthasy grew up in Methuen, Mass. As a child of color, she remembers having a lot of Barbie dolls and reading books with characters that didn’t reflect her identity or the little girl she saw when she looked in the mirror. She always liked kids, she says, and did a lot of babysitting when she was growing up. When it was time to choose a college, she opted for Salve Regina University, graduating with a degree in social work in 2009.
After college, she took jobs and volunteered in positions that shaped her professional worldview, first as a babysitter, and as a volunteer and outreach specialist for AmeriCorps, then as a mentoring coordinator at the YMCA of Greater Providence, where she ran workshops for children, promoting leadership development and college readiness. She recruited for Year Up and City Year, then moved on to Brown University as a community partnerships manager, where she built relationships with dozens of organizations.
With her background in social work and experience working with families on Medicaid, Sinouthasy says she was aware of the gaps in services for disadvantaged groups and individuals. “I was completely pivoting but I felt compelled to meet this need,” she said.
That recognition inspired her to start Peace of Mind Nannies.
“I wanted to go back to working with kids again,” she said. “I’d heard from moms about the challenges of hiring nannies and sitters who can provide that level of care.”
Part of Sinouthasy’s professional mission emphasizes diversity and inclusion. As a nanny to children from diverse backgrounds, she says she’s answered their questions about skin color and listened to their negative, internalized perceptions of beauty standards. It influenced who she hires at Peace of Mind, keeping diversity at the forefront.
“When I was a sitter, I was often the only woman of color, so that’s the lens I see this work through,” she said.
She’s also reached out to the LGBTQ+ community and was a guest on the podcast “Engaygement,” where she discussed her experiences growing up queer, and what she learned as a babysitter working for queer families. She delved into how difficult it can be for that community to open their homes to child care providers, and how those experiences led her to launch her business.
Sinouthasy has an extensive daily to-do list, from meeting with parents to performing extensive screenings, including criminal background checks and social media sweeps on potential care givers, as well as blogging, social media and marketing the business.
Caira Servrien has worked for Peace of Mind Nannies from the beginning and also helps interview potential nannies. She says Sinouthasy’s secret to success is being resilient, professional and open to feedback.
“Tiesha is committed to hiring those who can offer exceptional care,” she said. “She’s handled the bumps and she hasn’t let them stop her.”
Four years later, it’s paying off. Sinouthasy says from 2022 to 2023, requests for nannies surged 60% and babysitting services climbed 72%. At the same time, candidate applications were down 39%. That difference between supply and demand reinforces the importance of paying competitive wages and benefits for child care, she says.
And as demand for her services climbs, Sinouthasy plans to expand to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard in 2024.
“The most satisfying part of my job is when I can provide a sitter or nanny to a family and hear glowing feedback from the kids,” she said. “One 6-year-old told me, ‘I love that nanny to the moon and back.’ ”
