We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lydia Thibodeau a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lydia, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I didn’t understand the true meaning of the word resilience until I became a mother. Resilience is getting up at 5:00am to fill your cup before your kids are up at…wait for it…5:30. It is making 3 meals a day for your family and standing while you eat the leftovers and do all the dishes. It’s listening to “Colors of the Rainbow” on repeat 10 times and then Jingle Bells. It’s going to a park, farm, or play-space (you haven’t lived if you’ve never been to one) all weekend to make your kids happy and then getting up the next morning and literally doing the whole thing again. Motherhood is not for the weak of heart and it has challenged and changed me in ways I still can struggle to fully articulate. And yet, it is the best and most worthwhile thing I have ever done.
Before I had children, my resilience came from a strong desire to prove myself. Maybe to my own self, but definitely to others. I have never felt that my road in life has been easy but I took pride in consistently putting one foot in front of the other and facing challenges head on. After the births of my sons, I can confidently say that my resilience and perseverance is for them. They are my motivation, the focus behind my drive and my biggest reason for waking up and doing it all again the next day.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Sommet Nannies is a nanny placement and domestic staffing agency that focuses on connecting college-educated caregivers with professional families. Many of our nannies have backgrounds in education and worked as teachers prior to pursuing an in-home role. We love finding nannies with classroom experience as it allows them to provide academic enrichment throughout the day as well as support the ongoing needs of a child as he or she develops.
We currently offer services in Boston, Chicago, Washington DC and New York, as well as the surrounding areas. In most of these locations, we are the only agency that exclusively offers candidates with a 4-year college degree. This focus, in addition to our continued post-placement support, is what truly sets us apart from our competitors. While nanny placement is the service we are best known for, we also staff household managers, personal assistants, chefs, and executive assistants.
I began my career in wealth management prior to becoming an entrepreneur. While some aspects of the job were exciting, I never felt that working in finance truly utilized my greatest strengths and passions. During high school and college, I had consistently nannied for several local families and had developed meaningful relationships with them. Since becoming a mom myself, I have an even deeper understanding of my clients’ childcare pain points. I have learned firsthand how life-changing having the right support in place can be and strive to provide that experience for our families. It sounds cliche, but it truly does take a village, and helping families find their perfect nanny is incredibly rewarding.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The 3 most impactful qualities I have needed to be successful in business have been perseverance, creativity, and passion. Perseverance because you will have tough days (especially in the beginning), and need to have the courage, fortitude and drive to push forward and try again tomorrow. Creativity to take things in a new direction when an old strategy isn’t driving growth anymore, and passion because it is important to love what you do. I have worked in jobs that I felt I was good at without any passion behind my work and those roles always left me daydreaming and wanting more.
For new business owners, my advice is to dream big while being OK starting off small. Just get going! So many people are nervous to start a business and want to make sure every kink is worked out before they launch. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and some things can be learned along the way. Get going while you are still excited and the idea is fresh.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always looking for industry collaborators to share referrals with. For us as a nanny agency, this is typically other firms who work with a similar client group but offer different services. In the childcare industry, this may be: doulas, night nurses, lactation consultants, newborn concierges, and therapists. A connection may look like this: a new expectant family reaches out to learn more about hiring a nanny. While on the phone with our team, they realize that overnight care (a service we do not provide) could be really helpful as the mother transitions home after birth. They ask for a referral and we can share contact information for one of our local partners. On the flip side, a family who used a doula agency for birth support may ask for a recommendation for a live-in nanny and they can share Sommet’s information. These cross-referral partnerships are a great way to meet new families who you might not otherwise have access to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sommetnannies.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sommet_nannies/?igsh=MTFtYTk3ZXp5cGw5Nw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sommetnannies
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sommet-nannies/?viewAsMember=true
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sommet-nannies-boston
Image Credits
Mercy Street Studio
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
