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Meet Gary Matsuda of College Nannies + Sitters + Tutors North Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Matsuda.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In my previous career in IT, I implemented technologies that automated the transfer of information between internal company databases and external organizations. But after decades in IT and 3 layoffs, I decided if I was going to learn something new to get my career going again thought I might as well remake myself into something completely different and focus on having a business that helps me grow personally and have a direct impact in the community.

Now, with College Nannies and Tutors North Scottsdale, instead of developing software I help employees develop soft skills and connect families with personable, responsive nannies and tutors who transfer positive life experiences on to the next generation.

My wife and I help grow a small group at our church where we are passionate about seeing lives changed. Many principles of leading a small group carry over into running a small business with employees. Everyone wants to feel heard and when someone finds a sense of belonging where their opinions and contributions are valued, they tend to stay.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
From competition to challenging customers to days when I’m not feeling productive, there are daily struggles. As a small business owner, one of the biggest barriers is knowing when to hire good help and give them the freedom to make their own decisions even to the point of allowing them to make their own mistakes. However, when an employee makes a mistake, and were able to recover and take something away from it, that’s been the best training for both the employee and me.

Another challenge is getting myself to have the courage to start tasks or have difficult conversations especially associated with those situations that may have an emotional impact. This is especially challenging since all our employees and customers are remote. As the boss, I don’t usually have regular face to face interactions when them so the ability to communicate is made more difficult. But I’ve learned how to lower my anxiety that someone may get angry or defensive and realize the other party might be just as sensitive when I have to make a tough call or ask hard questions.

We also give feedback to our employees both individually and collectively so that they are aware of how they are doing and where we need them to progress. A core part of our business, we have quarterly mandatory ‘meetups’ where we get nannies and tutors to talk to each other and share experiences both good and bad with favorite families or difficult ones. That shared experience helps employees know they are listened to and builds emotional support they can use to perform even better with our clients. It also helps give direction on where employees want to see improvements in our process.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the point where I’ve made a complete shift from working ‘in’ the business as opposed to working ‘on’ the business but my experience and learning about relationships with people and resulting personal growth has been tremendously satisfying.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the College Nannies + Sitters + Tutors North Scottsdale story. Tell us more about the business.
Our simple business, simple mission, is to make life simpler and easier for the working parent. From on-call nannies whenever parents need help to permanently placed part-time nannies and tutors who provide after-school care and homework help.

But on the other side and just as important is employee development. Many of our nannies and tutors work on-call so they are assigned different families depending on need. This gives our employees the chance to experience a variety of family situations. Our mandatory employee meetups have been perfect to allow experience and information sharing.

As most of our employees are college students, we know one of the toughest parts of college life is the transition from being a student to becoming a working adult. We make available opportunities for them to get additional experience with kids while going to school. This is can be an applicable experience for them since the majority of our employees are college students majoring in education, nursing (they want to work in pediatrics) or psychology or social work(where they want to work with families and children). Or simply, they may just want a fun job where they get to enjoy the company of children.

We also give them the opportunity to network with our client parents who may be professionals in the same field of study as our college student employees. I had an employee or two receive internship offers this way!

Most of our demand is during weekdays from dual income parents who are often stressed for time and need someone to care for their children while they are at work so each nanny/tutor must do their best to build trust quickly in a new home or situation. What I want to do is help each employee learn the soft skills that they can take with them when they move on to their chosen career. While we all know academics are important, to get the best job and excel in it we need the willingness to adapt and grow with the client needs.

We don’t hire experts with advanced degrees or certification. We go deeper that than when we hire. While knowledge and formal education are great, building and solidifying our basic personal skills are also essential. Not only do they help build trust with parents but it can be a great example to the kids. We hire are those who have several years working with a variety of families and ages of children. That way we collectively gather experience and interactions with a diverse mixture of ages and family situations and us able to make a better match with the family. It may take a slight adjustment for the nanny to get used to a particular family’s dynamics but that where learning happens.

Our nannies and tutors are accountable not just to the parents but since we are a legal employer, they are accountable to us as well. The employer to employee to client relationship lays the foundation for a personalized network that facilitates communication.

Our nanny and tutor employees may be young but have a history of being prepared, reliable individuals who assist families in developing happier children and more successful students. The people we hire have these:
1. Positive (but realistic) attitudes.
2. Fast learners (we like to see high GPAs!)
3. Self-aware and alert to their surroundings.
4. Good listeners who have follow-through ability.

In addition, we hire those who have solid childcare experience and who make personal and professional development a priority while they serve others.

As much as we love to use technology to run our business, we see ourselves as a counterbalance to the constant bombardment of digital media that has replaced voice and face to face communication. Since our employees and the service they provide is our only asset we follow the idea that our human resources can best improve if an effort is put into neutralizing weaknesses and recognizing and promoting our strengths. We like efficiency, getting it done so instead of thinking of our business like family we like to think of ourselves as a high performing team.

Putting this together, we bring the ability to care for all children ages (but we do our best with children from preschool through high school) by using our personal and responsive approach to ensure the best support for each family.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
A couple of things: we’re blessed here to be located a region where streets are generally laid out in a grid pattern so it’s relatively easy to get around the valley and weather is mostly clear so there’s no snow rain or ice to complicate commutes for our employees when they drive to our clients’ homes! We have a pretty good ‘on time’ record because of these factors.

The worst luck has been the difficulty of recruiting qualified candidates. Because we are a legal W2 employer, the recruiting and onboarding process is not quick and that can discourage some applicants to bypass employment through us and go on to find families on their own. However, for us, there is no shortcut when we take time to perform due diligence to find those who have a verifiable work history and are willing to work with us.

LESSONS LEARNED
Would have become better at making the most of my available time and energy. Knowing the time of day when I’d be the most productive and when to do routine ‘mindless’ work when I’m exhausted by decision fatigue. I want to get better at hiring the right people and setting performance expectations in the beginning. Also, we don’t settle for a favorable customer review. Just because a customer is happy if I don’t find out why then it’s just luck. We must be detailed in analyzing a happy parent. What was done differently to please a customer, how can it be repeated? Likewise, if something goes wrong, how will I know how to fix it?

For instance, if a parent was happy with one of our nannies, we want to know what the nanny did to deserve a high rating. If something goes wrong, we’ll know if it just an extremely picky customer or the nanny employee forgot or didn’t understand instructions. As it happens, there are often two sides to every incident and I’ve learned to stop and make sure I understand both sides before I take action.

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