A local duo with extensive child-care, nurse and midwife experience hopes their new online platform can reinforce greater trust and security in Revelstoke's babysitting market.
Business partners Xanthe Garahy, 27, and Amelia Smith, 28, launch RevySitters this Friday, May 30, geared toward giving both local and visiting families with experienced and vetted babysitters, whether needed for long winter ski days or chill summer date nights.
The two describe themselves as lifelong babysitters, each bringing about a dozen years of child-care experience in and out of Canada, with Smith also a registered midwife and nurse in her native Australia.
In their endeavour, Garahy and Smith will personally match parents with a sitter based on the booking requirements and the sitter's experience with different age groups and any special needs. The roster of available sitters are all ages 19, police-checked, certified for first aid and interviewed by Garahy and Smith.
RevySitters takes 20 per cent of the platform fee families pay for the service, while the sitters get 80 per cent and make a minimum of $25 per hour, with an extra $4 per hour for each additional child.
Garahy and Smith have already vetted and onboarded about 15 babysitters, with more than 20 "in the pipeline" and more interest rolling in daily. Most are around their mid-20s, particularly as winter staff for Revelstoke Mountain Resort with key training such as first aid turn to other jobs for the shoulder and summer seasons.
"They can put in their availability so we can set them up with shifts that they want," Smith said, with RevySitters working to accommodate sitters' other work schedules.
As Garahy explains, finding trusted babysitting somewhere like Revelstoke can prove challenging, especially as having to rely largely on Facebook can become time-consuming and "err on the side of unsafe" without verification of sitters' credentials.
And while RevySitters is a new concept for the town, she and Smith have already seen the same model used around the world, such as Findababysitter.com, and even in other B.C. resort communities. From first-hand experience, the pair knows these platforms are effective at lining up babysitting that families can trust.
"That's one of the main things 乌鸦传媒� finding someone who's trustworthy," Smith said. "We can do the vetting for families. We kind of just saw the need."
Along with the burden on families of having to take a chance on sitters they can't vet, local businesses such as travel agencies often don't have anywhere to direct parents who go away and need to make arrangements for their children, according to Garahy and Smith.
乌鸦传媒淲e started RevySitters because we乌鸦传媒檝e been around this issue for over a decade now,乌鸦传媒� Smith added in a release. 乌鸦传媒淲e know how hard it is to find someone you trust 乌鸦传媒� especially on short notice or in a new place. We wanted to build a service that felt personal, dependable, and rooted in care.乌鸦传媒�
Garahy said the aim is fostering a greater sense of security around who the babysitter a family chooses is.
In interviews with prospective sitters, "we generally get an idea of how comfortable they are with children," Smith explained, saying this includes what age groups and environments 乌鸦传媒� houses, rentals, campsites, etc. 乌鸦传媒� a babysitter can work with. "We'll never put them with children they're not comfortable with."
RevySitters also consults closely with the families or guardians to ensure a good match, with a sitter who has the necessary hard and soft skills. Within 24 hours of using someone through the platform, families can complete a review and also request to be rematched with the sitter next time.
"I find that parents, all they want is someone warm who they can trust," Garahy said. "That's the utmost priority."
Additionally, local businesses are invited to reach out to RevySitters about forming partnerships or co-hosting events around child care or other community-related initiatives.
To book a babysitter or learn more, visit .
