I have a special announcement to share with you. As I continue to blog here on CincyNanny, I will also be joining the Regarding Nannies Development Team! I would like to introduce you to my friends and new colleagues: Glenda Propst, Alice Schaffer, and Kellie Geres! To “Meet the Nannies” jump over to Regarding Nannies and read the posts from this week. I interviewed them just I have here on the CincyNanny blog with our local Nannies!
POSTED TODAY ON REGARDING NANNIES…
Thank you for celebrating our birthday with us. The wonderful comments, the feedback and the support will motivate us through another year and we can’t wait to get started. We promised you a big announcement and here it is.
You may have noticed that there is a fourth bird in our new logo that we didn’t mention on Monday. As each bird represents a Regarding Nannies team member, we are excited to share a secret with you – and its been a hard secret to keep … Greta Schraer of CincyNanny is now an official member of our Regarding Nannies Development Team. We never anticipated that we would take on a new team member but we all agreed that Greta was a perfect choice to join our Regarding Nannies Team.
We wanted to share a few words about why we wanted Greta to join our development team :
From Glenda:
I only met Greta briefly at the INA Conference in Dallas in 2009 but I knew that she was someone who had the potential to be a driving force in the nanny profession. She has determination, a strong sense of who she is, and a genuine passion for what she does. Greta also came home, and started a blog, I started reading what she wrote, and her words genuinely moved me. Greta wrote this as her mission statement on her blog.
I am a professional.
I am part of a family team.
I am one of many that will build into the lives of these beautiful, talented children.
I need a community.
I need respect.
I make mistakes.
I love children.
I want to grow in knowledge.
I want to grow as a person.
My gifts are unique and therefore I make my job unique.
I am faithful.
I am affectionate.
I am a leader.
I serve a True God who gives me forgiveness and guidance.
I have a passion to gather Nannies together to share experiences, gather resources, to challenge each other, and of course, play together.
I have found my calling.
I am a Nanny.
I see in Greta the next generation that will make a difference in the nanny profession. She is young, energetic, exuberant, has wonderful ideas, a gentle loving spirit and a wonderful sense of humor. She is an ever present reminder of why we do what we do, and she is an inspiration to me.
Welcome Greta, I am so glad you are on this team!
From Alice…
I met Greta last year at the INA conference in Dallas. I had this feeling about her all weekend , that I wanted to get to know her better. I was running around as “Raffle Lady” to everyone and didn’t have a good opportunity to chat with Greta. At some point I remember talking with Glenda about how this “nanny” Greta went to the board meeting, was excited about everything she was learning and how she wants to bring this information back to Cincinnati to the nannies that were there . Fast forward to Sunday morning in the hotel lobby as I went to sit with some of the board members, Greta was sitting on the couch on her mac laptop and starting her “CincyNanny” blog. She didn’t waste a minute of what she learned that weekend. Later that year she came to Washington DC for Nannypalooza with the same enthusiasm as she had at the INA Conference. Greta came back to the INA conference with 3 of her CincyNanny members as well as hosting a Nannies Across America event this fall. She totally jumped on the train of “being a professional nanny” and learning anything and everything from all avenues in the industry. We have become friends over the past year, fellow board members on the INA Board of Directors and now fellow members of Regarding Nannies. I am so excited to be working with her on Regarding Nannies!
From Kellie:
Welcome Greta. I, like Glenda and Alice, met Greta at the INA Conference and she has proven to me to be a leader, a professional, a friend, a mentor, and an inspiration. I am in awe of all she has accomplished in such a short time and cannot wait for her to share all that energy, enthusiasm and knowledge with Regarding Nannies and our readers. I’m honored to be in a profession with all the ladies of Regarding Nannies.
From Greta…
It is so great that the cat is finally out of the bag, or… the bird is out of the cage!
As the ladies said, it was at the 2009 INA Conference that I briefly met Kellie, Alice and Glenda. I remember meeting Kellie at the roundtable for Nanny support groups. I was anxious to hear about this ADCAN thing. Having nothing in Cincinnati, before conference I thought I came up with the genius idea of a community bringing nannies together. Come to find out, there were many support groups all over the country! I quickly wrote notes and asked questions. 3 months later, the CincyNannycommunity was born.
Sunday morning, Alice and Glenda sat eating breakfast, and stopped me as I walked by. I remember telling them I was embarrassed to be be the only observer in the INA Board Meeting that day. They encouraged me, saying it was great that I cared and went to check it out. Looking back, I wonder if at their breakfast a spark of conversation and dreams of Regarding Nannies began? (And to think that I would be joining those strangers a little over a year later.)
That same day, I sat in the hotel lobby waiting for the shuttle, navigating the Blogger templates and writing my first post: a brief recap of conference. Later that summer, I wrote the post Glenda spoke off. For the first time, I spoke of my career in a public avenue, sharing my passions and purpose. I remember hitting “publish” wondering if anyone would happen to read it. Within hours, Glenda (representing Regarding Nannies) emailed me and asked to post it on their blog. What? Someone read it? Someone liked it? That day, I felt encouraged that my voice may make an impact locally and beyond. Largely due to this, I continued to write.
Over the last 14 months, these ladies – individually and as a team – have mentored and groomed me, daily, as I read the words they wrote. They encouraged me in so many ways and have each contributed to some amazing memories and professional accomplishments with me this year. As I look out among the industry as a whole, I can see the fingerprints and whispers these Nannies have left with so many! Their passion is contagious. Their love for the industry is genuine. The only gain they seek is to better the world and children in it.
As the 4th bird, the Hummingbird, I hope that I can also share with the industry. Have you ever observed the little Hummingbirds as they eat? At work we have feeders in the backyard and often I drift into amazement as I look out the window. They are busy, excited, little bodies with a super-focused, still head and beak. I look forward to writing about things that excite me in this career with children. I am always looking for ways to improve myself, be more productive and be excellent. I know that I have a lot to learn, but I’d love for you to look out your window and see my excitement and passion.
And I will warn you…you may get sick of my gushy heart towards the 3 year old triplet boys in my care. But, they are the best! (Truth is my actual favorite boy is my gorgeous husband, Doug.)
