The Chic Guide: What is Sitting Made Simple?
Lauren Hardy, Sitting Made Simple Cincinnati: Sitting Made Simple® Cincinnati is a local on demand babysitting service that connects area families with sitters. We make finding a babysitter EASY for families in the Queen City!Whether you need a last minute sitter, before & after school care, summer sitting or even continual care – SMS® Cincy has you covered!
The Chic Guide: What’s the inspiration behind it?
Hardy: The inspiration for me personally was to provide my city and community with another childcare option that I felt we needed. I always had a hard time finding safe, qualified caregivers to watch my children and I was always left so frustrated. We had tried everything and it felt like our options always revolved around someone else’s schedule or time. Even something like Care.com was difficult because you interview 25 people looking for that “diamond in the rough” and once you find her, if she gets sick or isn’t available then you are back to square one. SMS® broke us free from that, and we now have all the sitters we could ever want at our fingertips through the website, and I am forever grateful. Getting time to myself or to spend on a date night with my husband is priceless. We enjoy having such a wide variety of sitters, which has been fun for my children as well, they get to meet someone new, and when they find one we love we add her to our “favorites” list for next time. We now have a list of sitters that we know and love, and not just one, it has made life easy!
The Chic Guide: Who’s behind Sitting Made Simple?
Hardy: This is a two-part question, first and foremost SMS® is the brainchild of Amanda Knapp, founder & CEO. She founded this company a little over 12 years ago in Columbus, Ohio and knew that she had an amazing service that others needed. She started franchising SMS® as a brand a little over 6 years ago and we are now in 9 major US cities with prospects of opening more later this year!
Secondly, I heard about SMS® through my sister-in-law, who faithfully uses the Indianapolis location and raved about how amazing it was, and that it has saved them on multiple occasions when they needed someone at the last minute. I have 3 small children of my own and knew that this was something that I would definitely utilize if it had been in Cincinnati, and I knew that it was the right choice for me to open one here. I know SO many friends and family that needed SAFE, RELIABLE child care and that this could be an easy answer for them. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, and graduated from Indian Hill High School, before going to Ohio State. After graduating from Ohio State I moved abroad to Florence, Italy, where I met my husband who happened to be from Southern California. After moving back to Cincinnati from Italy, I decided to travel the world with my now husband until we settled in San Diego in 2008. We had both of our boys while living there until we felt the need to give them more than we felt California could offer, and moved back to Cincy in 2014. Our daughter was born in 2015 and we currently live in Kenwood with family and friends close by, and my husband currently is a realtor with Keller Williams Seven Hills in Kenwood. I had worked for T-Mobile, USA for over 9 years, until I found SMS® and knew that this was the right opportunity at the right time for our family so I moved from one amazing work family to another and couldn’t have asked for better women to be partners with while on this journey!
The Chic Guide: What services does Sitting Made Simple offer?
Hardy: We offer everything from last minute sitters, sick child coverage, holiday sitters, summer sitters, before & after school care and transportation, continual care for those looking for a regular weekly sitter, family sharing options, church or event sitting…we really do it all. We offer our Spring, Summer, and Fall continual care options for those who know that they have regular care needs and want to set up a sitter in advance. We also offer booking discounts for those booking days in bulk to keep it easy, and also have an amazing referral program for members. We give free scheduling fees out to existing members that refer new families, which helps existing members earn credits towards nights out! Right now we are gearing up for our Fall registration, for which our waitlist opens July 9th for members to sign up. Since we are in 6 different locations, we offer you the option to use your membership in ANY of those cities, which makes traveling so much easier!
The Chic Guide: What makes Sitting Made Simple unique?
Hardy: SMS® is unique in that we do all of our own interviews in person or over Zoom, there is no one that I hire that I would not let watch my own children! We go through a rigorous background and driving check, we gather references, and lastly and most importantly we CPR train all of our sitters. All of these items combine to put us ahead of the rest, because we strive to be the best! The largest thing that sets us apart from our competition is accountability. We hold all of our sitters to a higher standard and keep them accountable for their appointments. If there is ever an issue, there is always someone in the office who is ready to take care of it and solve the problem, should one arise. We are full service, not just an app or a website, there is a LOCAL mom behind it all and I am always here for you!
The Chic Guide: Is there anything new on the horizon?
Hardy: SMS® Cincy is always out there looking for new businesses to partner with, as we offer corporate memberships with employee discounts and free scheduling credits! We are gearing up for a busy Fall registration right now, as school is right around the corner for us all! Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for giveaway and event updates!
The Chic Guide: Where can readers go to learn more and follow along?
Hardy: We would love for you to follow us on Instagram, which we give discounts, giveaways and updates through! Our website is www.sittingmadesimple.com/cincinnati and we are on Facebook.
