Today we’d like to introduce you to Tori Ulrich.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tori. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
They say to start a successful business, you need to find a problem and come up with a solution for it. Well, I had a solution to a problem that (at the time) I didn’t know existed!
I was working as a nanny/babysitter for several families myself and parents would walk up to me at the park, in the store, on the street, all over the place – asking if I had friends that babysat, or where they could find someone like me to work occasionally. At that time there were lots of nanny agencies that helped match nannies to families, but nobody that did the same for sitters. One night after (what seemed like a million) different parents called asking if I could help and if not could I call my friends – Chicago Super Sitters was born.
It has now been 7 years, and more than 5000 individual sitter placements.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Though it is childcare, things have not been all rainbows and lollipops. The childcare search is a very personal thing for every different family, and making sure we cater to and meet everyone’s needs isn’t always easy. Finding the balance between wanting to make parents happy and wanting to keep sitters happy is a constant battle. Bumping up against people that say ‘oh, you have a little babysitting company, how cute’ and feeling the constant need to prove the legitimacy of what I do and how important it is. Quality childcare is not just a female issue, or a mom issue and fighting the fight to prove that sometimes makes me want to pull all of my hair out.
On top of that though in a much broader sense, learning how to be a business owner and solopreneur has also had its ups and downs. Every day is different and every challenge presents a chance to learn something new. Not just the business stuff — numbers and marketing and growth, etc., but learning how to stay true to who I am and what I want my business to be. The big victories are so sweet — hitting that sales goal and increasing numbers from the year prior, but also (and perhaps most satisfying) are the smaller wins — hearing a sitter say that we helped her find the perfect family, or hearing a first-time mom say that we helped her reconnect with her spouse; these are the things that help me push through the 19 hour days and the dark days when those sales goals didn’t get met.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Chicago Super Sitters – what should we know?
Chicago Super Sitters is a babysitting matchmaking service that matches a family needs with a sitters’ strengths. We have a roster of 100+ fully vetted sitters that we match to families based on things including (but not limited to) communication style, discipline approach, ages of kids, number of kids, family hobbies, family energy, and of course availability. All of our sitters are interviewed, reference checked, background checked, interviewed again, and fully vetted, to make sure we only work with the best. We also screen our families to make sure that sitters are safe, that they know what they are walking into, and that they are provided information so they can do their best job. We match sitters to families with the hope of creating lasting relationships instead of just one-night gigs.
We believe that parenting is really, REALLY hard, and we want to make it just a bit easier by taking the stress out of finding great babysitters. The one thing that separates us from the other agencies in the city, is the personal attention we provide to every parent/sitter match. Inviting a stranger into your home to care for your kids is a very very big deal, and we take it very very seriously.
The diversity of both our sitter and family rosters is something that makes my heart swell all the time. I am uncomfortable bragging on this point as I believe that I am truly doing what should be done and should not be considered a stand out for any reason, but making sure that every single race, gender, age, belief system, and sexual preference has a place at CSSitters, is of the utmost importance to me. Knowing that all types of families feel safe hiring our sitters and that all of our sitters know they are welcomed, supported, and safe walking into a home is something we take very seriously.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Ha! I’m not sure I have enough space or time to list everyone that helped to make CSSitters what it is today. Not everyone I would list would get praise for being supportive, but I’d give them kudos for making things so exponentially difficult at a given time that they helped me become the person that was able to get here today.
I had a pretty bumpy childhood, particularly once I hit my teen years, and I had to be pretty tough. I attribute my time at summer camp to be the thing that ultimately made me who I am at my core (my hope is that one day every single child will get to experience summer camp). Camp Tanamakoon gets a lot of credit for a lot of things in my life, particularly my feminism and my constant push forward.
My brother, for calling me out on my bull$&*t, for writing a check when things got tough, and for always having my back. My close friends, old and new, for reminding me how amazing CSSitters is when I often forget. Marty, my business acquaintance that has become a close friend and supporter that never lets me stop even when things feel IMPOSSIBLE. That one employee I had several years ago that screwed me over so hard that I thought I’d never recover but then helped to make me stronger and even more badass. Corrie, Aimee, Kim, and Tracey – the moms of my longest and most treasured families that showed me what real parenting is and how fiercely a mom can really love a child. And most importantly, all of the babysitters that have worked for CSSitters since 2010. There have been over 400 sitters that have come through the roster over the years and without their hard work, dedication, professionalism, and love of children, CSSitters would just not be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ChicagoSuperSitters.com
- Phone: 773-609-1277
- Email: hello@chicagosupersitters.com
- Instagram: @ChicagoSuperSitters
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoSuperSitters/
- Twitter: @chisupersitters
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-super-sitters-chicago
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