As busy professionals, Tommy and Ginger Mayfield soon found themselves in a familiar parental pickle – finding reliable childcare for their two small children. Inspired by apps that make daily living and transactions as simple as a few taps of a screen, the idea for Wyndy was born. With Wyndy, prospective babysitters (referred to as Wyndys) must undergo a rigorous Live Scan. Parents can then choose a sitter based on qualifications and a five-star rating system. Wyndy has been a boon of convenience for both parents and students alike and has opened up countless professional opportunities for all involved. We spoke to co-founder Tommy Mayfield on how Wyndy is revolutionizing the childcare landscape.
Cliché: What is Wyndy? How did the idea for the app first come about?
Tommy Mayfield: Wyndy was born from a desire to solve a problem that my wife and I faced. I was working long hours as an attorney at a large corporate firm, my wife was getting her master’s degree at night, and we had two daughters under the age of five. We needed lots of babysitting help, but finding trustworthy and reliable childcare was extremely difficult. Like millions of other parents, we found ourselves using the same technology that parents had been using for more than a decade, which was basically no technology. We’d meet a handful of sitters through offline relationships, add their numbers to our phones, and then send what seemed like hundreds of text messages to book one. We’d then have to stop by the ATM late at night or scrounge for the checkbook to pay the sitter.
It occurred to us that we were living in a world where apps like Lyft and Shipt made it possible to get a ride or have our groceries delivered at the tap of a button. Why wasn’t there an app that could make it just as easy to find, book, and pay trusted babysitters? We set out to harness the power of modern technology to transform the way parents find reliable childcare by connecting them with a community of vetted, background-checked college babysitters.
There are lots of different websites and apps to find babysitters. What sets Wyndy apart?
Wyndy combines the conveniences of technology with the traditional approach to building personal relationships. First, Wyndy has started with a select segment of the population: full-time college or graduate students at top-tier local universities. Second, Wyndy completes the initial vetting for parents. Each prospective Wyndy must undergo a thorough application process and clear a comprehensive background check before gaining access to the app. Third, the Wyndy app empowers parents to screen Wyndys with key information about the babysitter, including a five star rating system, social connections that enable parents to see the Wyndys their friends have used, and detailed profiles so parents can view sitters’ unique qualifications. Convenience: On average parents can get response from an interested sitter within two minutes. Once a parent chooses a sitter, Wyndy makes it easy to book and pay all within the platform. Sitters use in app timer to time the job and parents can easily add bonuses for the sitter at the end of the job.
Wyndy really emphasizes the safety of its users. Why is safety such an imperative priority for your company?
We recognized that, for Wyndy to succeed, we had to build a platform that parents would be comfortable using when looking for child care. We are also the parents or two small girls and we wanted this platform to be something we would feel comfortable with them using as college students.
Let’s say I’m a college student looking for a job. Why should I choose babysitting and further, why should I choose Wyndy?
Babysitting, by nature, is one of the most ideal jobs for college students as it allows them to make extra cash while freeing them from the commitment of a full or part time job. Earnings from babysitting can ease the burden of school tuition, books or sorority dues. It also provides an opportunity for students to meet people outside their immediate circle.
Generally, the best way for college students to find babysitting jobs is through random connections or referrals from friends; and those can be few and far between. Wyndy allows sitters to be notified of jobs that work within their schedule, allowing them to work when they want, as often they want. They can also select jobs based on availability, desired pay rate, number of kids, and the location of the job. Wyndy helps students build valuable relationships and find connections for future jobs, and some of those connections can turn into job references once the students graduate. Using Wyndy to book babysitting jobs opens more doors than the traditional method, while providing additional income with an unlimited cap!
What qualities make an ideal babysitter? More specifically, are there any particular fields where a student would especially benefit from a background in child care?
At Wyndy we value reliability, timeliness, friendliness, and servant-mindess. We believe in always going above and beyond the typical babysitter to provide a magical experience.
We have Wyndys in so many different majors and attaining a variety of educational levels including medical school. The benefits to being a Wyndy during a student’s college years far exceed attaining experience in childcare. Wyndys learn time management, professionalism, communication and how to model integrity on and off the platform. These skills will serve Wyndys in whatever career avenues they choose to pursue.
What have your sitters (known as Wyndys) been able to accomplish with their earnings? What makes Wyndy different from other jobs that a college student might pursue?
Wyndys have been able to earn money to help with their college tuition, school books and study abroad trips. We have even had a Wyndy that paid for her entire mission trip to Africa and another that purchased a car. One of the best stories is of a Wyndy who avoided dropping out of college for financial reasons because of the extra income she was able to earn on Wyndy.
Wyndy provides limitless opportunities to complete jobs, and the schedule is completely dictated by the student.
What feedback have you gotten from the Wyndys about their overall experience with your company?
We are fortunate to have Wyndys on our platform who readily engage with our team and reach out with encouraging testimonies. One of our Wyndys shared the following with us, “I’ve loved using Wyndy so far. It has exceeded my expectations on how easy and flexible it is to get jobs babysitting. I’m already on track to have a summer trip funded by the end of May–this all without sacrificing my grades or social life.”
What has the reaction been like from the communities you’re serving? From the parents? From the kids?
We hear stories each week from our users that remind us why we chose to build a platform like Wyndy. It’s incredible to hear testimonies of the ways we are empowering both parents and sitters to pursue their callings. One of my favorite stories involves a mom who accepted a job after previously turning it down multiple times because, with Wyndy, she now had a reliable way to manage childcare.
Read more Lifestyle on ClicheMag.com
Wyndy Provides an Easy Solution to Parents Seeking Trustworthy and Reliable Childcare. Photo Credit: Wyndy.
